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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28721766">Heartless [On hold until June]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twriter470/pseuds/Twriter470'>Twriter470</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Many Curses Of Theodore Raeken [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Theo Raeken, Bottom Theo Raeken, Boys In Love, Drinking Games, Good Theo Raeken, Harry Potter References, Human Theo Raeken, Humor, Hurt Theo Raeken, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Liam, Liam Being an Idiot, Liam is So Done, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Near Death Experiences, Other, Pack Nights, Post-hell Theo Raeken, Psychopath Theo Raeken, Rape/Non-con Elements, Redemption, Temporary Character Death, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Theo Raeken is a Tease, Theo has a girlfriend???, Theo is a Little Shit, Truth or Dare, Witch Curses, Witches, just trust me</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:16:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28721766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twriter470/pseuds/Twriter470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>„What's up, Liam? Is it Theo? Are there any news?“, asked Scott in a concerned voice. Ever since the incident in the forest all of the pack members had been walking on eggshells around the topic of Theo and the curse. Every single one of them knew it was just a matter of time they got to know what was going on with him.</p><p>„Y-yes. He … Well, could you do me a favor? I need you and the pack to be here tonight. You know, to observe Theo. He's being really weird and it's honestly starting to screep me out“, Liam answered in a rushed whisper.</p><p> </p><p>OR: after the war Theo lives at Liam's house. But a curse turns Theo into his murderous psychopatic self again. What will the pack and Liam do?<br/> </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Many Curses Of Theodore Raeken [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Curse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He could really get used to that. Eating breakfast with Liam, driving Liam to school, sitting with him and Mason at the cafeteria table. Beating him in video games almost every evening and also on weekends. Why did he use to want to rule the world in the past again? Because living with Liam and being in his company was so much better. He had been living with him for several months now.</p><p>Sure, the old pack – Scott's pack – was nowhere near trusting him yet. Maybe they never would. But at least they didn't want to beat or even kill him anymore. The only punches he got were from Liam. But it was something else. Theo allowed him to do that 'cause it was their thing somehow.</p><p>So all in all everything turned out to be just fine. Way more than Theo had been hoping for initially. And he knew that a huge part of this developement was because he – the cruel psychopath Theo Raeken, the former evil himself – had shown the will to work on himself. To start trusting people just a little bit. To help them. To do something good. To <em>care</em>...</p><p>„You've got to be KIDDING me!!“, Liam roared after the fourth attempt of beating Theo at Mario Kart but just getting a mocking lift of Theo's right brow in return. The cool composure Theo kept showing everytime after winning only proceeded to drive Liam crazier and angrier with every passing minute.</p><p>„Why don't you just give up, Little Wolf? I told you I'm the best at it“</p><p>Being in his furious state, Liam didn't even register being called the annoying nickname Theo gave him about three weeks ago.</p><p>„I'm NOT giving up. I'm a freaking werewolf. And you're just … just ...“, he started doing strange jerky movements with his arms, accusingly pointing at the chimera.</p><p>„I'm just what? A freaky scientific experiment? Jeez, that's a new one“, said Theo rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner. Watching Liam freaking out was so entertaining and satisfying that Theo couldn't bring himself to be angry about Liam's not so subtle reference to Theo's pour status in the supernatural world. He was always enjoying the way Liam gestured with his arms like crazy, or the way his lips would turn into a pout that made Theo want to kiss it away. If Liam only knew what he did to Theo pouting like this....</p><p>Liam just stared at him, still fuming. He tried to calm himself down, being perfectly aware of the show he was pulling of right now, which Theo was undoubtfully enjoying. What a bastard, he planned this, thought Liam bitterly. But secretly he was enjoying this newfound rivalry between Theo and himself just fine. Not that he would ever admit it to the chimera.</p><p>Their staring context was being abruptly interrupted by a soft buzz of Liam's phone. Pulling it out of his jeans pocket Liam recognized the incoming call was from Scott.</p><p>„Hey Scott, what's up?“, he said casually, already rising to his feet.</p><p>„Liam, we need your help. There has been a guy found in the woods. He doesn't really know what exactly had happened to him, but he had been throwing up slugs and frogs all the way up to Deaton's clinic and he swears to have encountered a naked, crazy looking woman while hunting. Anyway, Deaton says it could be a witch who might have put a spell on him. The guy is ok now. Just traumatized. The effect seems to have worn off. You have to help hunting her down though. Before she does any more harm to the others.“</p><p>Witches in Beacon Hills? Really now? Liam coudn't believe what he was hearing. How has it become his life again?</p><p>Briefly closing his eyes and sighing heavily, the beta just mumbled a simple „fine, be there in ten minutes“. Inwardly, he was thankful that today was Saturday, so he didn't have to deal with the witches AND homework.</p><p>„Thank you. After the meeting we're going to the forest“, Scott answered. „Oh, and bring Theo with you. He could help.“</p><p>After ending the call Liam sighed again, looking down at the chimera. „You heard him, we have to go“.</p><p>„Yepp“, Theo said, standing up. He was inwardly pleased to have been invited by Scott, but witches in Beacon Hills? He really could use a vacation from all the supernatural stuff, as entertaining as it was.</p><p>***************************************************************************************************************************************************<br/>„Sooo how are we gonna track her again?“, Liam asked, suddenly feeling helpless. And you couldn't blame him, witches was a whole new territory to him.</p><p>„Well, we think of splitting into small groups and the werewolves among us are going to try and track a scent. If it doesn't work we still have Lydia here. Maybe she can use her power to detect the witch.“, Scott explained.</p><p>„So that's it?“, Theo lifted a sceptical eyebrow, drawing everyone's attention and causing Malia to threateningly growl at him from where she stood beside Scott. Theo just rolled his eyes.</p><p>„You do have some insider information or something, right? Like, where and at what time this guy has seen her or what he might have done to her to make her put a spell on his ass?“</p><p>The room was silent for an awkward moment. It was Stiles who interrupted it though.</p><p>„Unbelivable!“, he exclaimed, and it would seem threatening to Theo if the human wouldn't be pulling a pout at the same time. „You, Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome, walz into this room here, just like you own it, and start insulting our intelligence? MY intelligence? Or don't you think I haven't gone through such FUNDAMENTAL details of a classic investigation already??“</p><p>Over Malia's quite but aggressive hiss of „Did you just call him handsome?“ Theo just put up his arms in mock surrender. „Whoa there, nobody's insulting your intellegence here, Stiles“, he said smirking. „I just like to be informed before going into a possibly unpleasant or even deadly mission. Don't wanna go back in there into the waiting arms of my dear sister, you know?“. Inwardly, he was already regretting saying the last part of his retort. No need to offer the pack an additional chance at biting him in the ass about his past. But unfortunately, Stiles would't be Stiles if he wasn't gonna take this chance presented.</p><p>„Oh you know, you may have learned your lesson down there but maybe you should have stayed just a little bit longer there to improve this smug asshole attitude you still carry around, you know?“, Stiles said, agressively giving the chimera a smug smirk of his own. Theo felt his anger rising.</p><p>„You don't know NOTHING about what I've gone through there, so you don't have to tell me ANYTHING about it or the way I am, got it?“, he hissed in return, flashing his eyes. He could have sworn at that moment he'd seen Stiles flinch at his outburst.</p><p>The room turned quiet once again. The pack was still unused to Theo being emotional nowdays – even though all the emotions they've witnessed so far were frustration, hurt and anger of Theo's. Especially when his past was being brought up. But it was a huge difference to the way he used to be – with all the fake smirks and little disgusting laughs of his pre-hell Self.</p><p>„Guys! Really … We don't have time for this right now“, Scott said finally, sounding suddenly very exhausted. „As I've said, we gonna go in pairs. Stiles and I are going together, Lydia goes with Malia, Mason goes with Corey and Liam goes with Theo. About your question, Theo, yes, we tried to ask the poor man as much as possible. But currently we hardly can bring him to speak. All he does is to whimper and sob from time to time and I'm honestly not sure if there's a deadline to it. We simply have no time for that.“</p><p>Theo just nodded, being thankful for the boy's answer. He knew Scott didn't really trust or particularly liked him, but at least he was talking to him like to an actual person – not to some freak that was still considered to be a threat. Theo knew he was nothing like he used to be before his trip to hell. If Liam could see this – maybe Scott would be seeing it too soon.</p><p>****************************************************************************************************************************************************</p><p>„Shh! I heard something“, Liam hushed Theo, extending his arm along chimera's chest to stop him from going any further into the woods. Theo stopped and listened.</p><p>„You hear that?“, Liam asked, his blue eyes going to slits looking for a movement or something. It was getting darker with every passing minute now, with winter standing at the door.</p><p>„Nope, I can't hear anything“, Theo shook his head. „You could use your werewolf vision btw, you know?“, he couldn't help adding.</p><p>Liam huffed, once again being annoyed by chimera's smart ass attitude. But Theo was right, he still had his werewolf eyes. So he flashed them, looking defiantly at the older boy behind him.</p><p>„Better?“</p><p>Theo smirked. „Way better“. This had Liam rolling his eyes.</p><p>„Anyway, I heard some tree crunching or something“, he whispered. „Just stay still and let me concentrate. I'm gonna track the sound down. Or her scent“.</p><p>Theo sighed. „Have you even tried this scenting thing before?“, he asked, causing the beta throwing him a bitch face.</p><p>„Yeah, I actually have“, he said somewhat smugly, suddenly smirking. „Remember this time where Stiles and I have ambushed you on the bridge? It was my first time I ever tried scenting someone's emotions, you know?“</p><p>Theo raised a brow. Yeah, he remembered that day. He was busted back then, but didn't ever regret meeting Liam there for the first time.</p><p>„Sooo … I was your first then?“, he asked, slowly dragging the words as if he were thinking about it too hard.</p><p>To that Liam made a startled choking sound, immediately blushing from whatever he thought Theo was implying. Theo snickered.</p><p>„Don't … God, those words just came so impossibly WRONG out of you mouth“, he hissed, turning away so the chimera wouldn't witness his utter embarrassment. Unfortunately, this gesture only seemed to amuse Theo even more.</p><p>„Now now“, he said teasingly. „I haven't even meant anything by it. I wonder how dirty your mind really is Liam“, he chuckled earning a death glare from the beta.</p><p>„Well how should I know that you weren't thinking about it? You started it first, you pervert“, Liam hissed, already wishing the earth would just swallow him whole to save him from any further embarrassment.</p><p>But as if things couldn't go any wronger the boys suddenly heard a high pitched laughter coming from somewhere in the woods in front of them. It became louder with every passing second. Then a sugar sweet female voice finally said:</p><p>„Hmmm, what am I seeing here? Two boys, all alone in the woods. It's getting dark and dangerous here … All the little boys should be in bed right now … Or at least they should stick together instead of arguing, don't you think?“</p><p>And sure enough there came a woman into the boys' view. The woman seemed to be in her early thirties and very naked. Long dark hair, large but crazed looking eyes … She even wore a few green tree branches attached to her hair. This certainly wasn't some random woman.</p><p>„What do you want from us?“, Liam asked, already growling lowly and clearly ready for an attack. The witch just threw her head back and let out another hysterical laugh, the sound going like an echo around the trees.</p><p>„What I want? What I want?“, she asked incredulously. „I wonder what YOU want from me, dear. You go into my forest clearly looking for me and disturbing my peace. It's not very friendly, is it now?“</p><p>„We came after you because someone who clearly was NOT looking for you run into you and got hurt. So what were we supposed to do? We defend people from those like you, it's our job, you know?“, Liam hissed, his eyes tiny slits now.</p><p>This was exactly the moment where Theo could suddenly see the witch getting clearly angry now.</p><p>„Well, he deserved it“, she said coldly. „He was rude and kept pointing at me with this pathetic rifle of his that he uses to shoot poor animals with. So besides of that, he's also a KILLER. He really should be thankful that I didn't decide to just kill him“, she sneered.</p><p>When Liam began to growl at the woman even louder Theo knew he probably should step in.</p><p>„Look, we don't want anyone to get hurt, ok?“, he said, putting his hands in front of him in an open gesture. „But we also can't let you stay here. Beacon Hills has a lot of supernatural creatures. But if one decides to go against the rule of a peaceful co-existence, then we go and hunt them down. It's not just the two of us, you know? So I suggest, you go now before it's too late“, he added.</p><p>He winced slightly at his own words. He wanted to rule it out as smoothly as possible, but his speech came out like a threat anyway. Well done, Theo, he mentally facepalmed himself. This whole thing with expressing himself as humanly as possible was still new to him. All he was used to were snide remarks and the whole asshole behavior. So maybe Stiles was right after all. Hell may have made him rethink his life choices but it didn't manage to peel off his layer of the ever present bitchiness that he surrounded himself with as a self-defense-mechanism.</p><p>Luckily, the witch didn't seem to be bothered by his little speech too much. Instead, she just kicked her head to the site, her pearcing dark eyes examining the chimera.</p><p>„You are not human, are you? No, you are something else. There's something in you. Something. I just can't place it“, she said slowly. Eventually her eyes turned into tiny slits before a crazed smile began to spread across her face. „Oh now I know it! I knew it from the start that there was something wrong with you. There's something SINISTER in there. It's like … you have a soul but your soul is broken. What did you have to endure, hun? What could have happened to you to have blackened your pure little soul so much? Because believe me, I can see this blackness that you so desperately try to hide right through your scars, dear“.</p><p>Theo swallowed. Goosebumps began to cover his neck and upper arms. Suddenly he felt a sort of cruel vulnerability he hasn't felt in a long time now.</p><p>„You know NOTHING about me, lady, so I just suggest you let it go. Your little mojo isn't working on me“, he sneered. Inwardly the chimera knew it wasn't the best time to get all defensive about it, because the risk to anger the witch further could bring them a lot of trouble. But he couldn't otherwise. Damn defensive mechanism.</p><p>Once again, the woman didn't seem offended too much by Theo's outburst. If possible, her grin grew even larger.</p><p>„Tell me, Theo Raeken“, she said, looking into his eyes like a predator. And how the hell did she even know his fucking name?? „Have you ever killed anyone?“</p><p>There was a sharp intake of breath coming from his right side. It was as if Theo had forgotten Liam was still there. Suddenly the chimera began to panic. He really didn't want to discuss his murdery past with this woman right now, not in front of Liam anyway.</p><p>So he did what he could do best – he put on an indifferent face and his famous smirk and said: „Fuck you. I don't even know what you're talking about“.</p><p>Now the witch was finally getting furious. He could tell it instantly.</p><p>„Oh do you now dear? Maybe then I should just teach you a lesson“, she hissed with an ugly smirk and suddenly there was a ball of bright white light flying towards the chimera.</p><p>It hit him right into the chest, his heart jumping to his throat after he felt like the air was being knocked out of him. He didn't feel any pain besides of that. In fact, it was as if a certain calmness had settled upon his mind. It felt just kind of right.</p><p>And then everything went black.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Changes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So what is up with Theo? Poor Liam is gonna find it out in this very chapter. Enjoy and please let me know what you think ;)!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Liam couldn't sleep that night in peace, constantly feeling the need to stand up and go check on a once unconscious – and now sleeping – Theo in the opposite room at the end of the corridor. The previous day has been very exhausting and kept haunting the beta with its images of the strange incident in the woods. Theo getting cursed – literally being hit with it and knocked out unconscious. The long and painful silence right after the witch vanished, leaving Liam waiting for the other pack members after calling them for help. The torturous trip to Deaton's clinic. And the utter helplessness once the doctor declared there's nothing he could do for Theo for now. On the outside there weren't any effects or injuries to Theo, but what the hell were they to expect once Theo wakes up? Would he wake up at all?</p><p> </p><p>Liam squizzed his eyes shut tightly, supressing that last question that kept popping inside his head for the millionth time now. But at least the fact, that Theo wasn't just unconscious but rather sleeping now, was somehow soothing. Promising the perspective of him waking up eventually.</p><p> </p><p>Liam tilted his head, listening to the peaceful breathing coming from the chimera's room. He was relieved upon hearing it, really. But still something was strange about it. Because normally, Liam would wake up to soft noises of distress, that came out from the chimera's room almost every night. The beta knew it weren't just random nightmares that kept plaguing the older boy. Because sometimes he would catch Theo calling out for Tara – almost always following by a desperate plea for help. And listening to that broke Liam's heart every time. But as much as Liam wanted to go into that room, to lay down next to Theo and comfort him the werewolf was perfectly aware of Theo's trust issues. Yes, the chimera was getting better at trusting people, but often Liam was still feeling the grand weight of the walls Theo would built around himself every time after being caught by Liam in a moment of weekness.</p><p> </p><p>So the beta just let it go. For now. Giving him time. But suffering right next to him.</p><p> </p><p>******</p><p>The next time Liam woke up it was to a loud singing. The singing appeared to be coming from the kitchen on the first floor. <em>What the hell?</em> Liam thought. Sometimes, his mom would wake him up singing while doing breakfast in the kitchen. But that 1) happened very rarely and 2) the voice belonged definitely to a male and sounded just TERRIBLE. So what. The. Hell???</p><p> </p><p>Partly out of fear and partly out of curiosity the beta quickly stood up and threw the first pair of jeans and a shirt he could find in the drawer. Creeping down the stairs as quite as possible he aimed his way into the kitchen and … just froze.</p><p> </p><p>Theo was standing in front of an open fridge, loudly singing and dancing to a quite song coming from the small kitchen radio. He was shirtless but thankfully in jeans. His hair was dishelved and falling messily into his face, covering his eyes which made him jerk his head slightly every time he made some really expressive swaying movements with his hips. All in all, it was a sight that Liam thought he would never ever witness coming from the usually broody chimera. And somehow he found it quite arousing. Wait … AROUSING? <em>What the heck??</em></p><p> </p><p>But what made the beta rise his eyebrows even higher was the fact of Theo currently starting to gulp down a whole bottle of milk right from the bottle. Like it was reserved there only for him or something. A no-go in this family. Just … a No-Go!</p><p> </p><p>„Um … Theo?“, the younger boy tried, not really sure how to approach the chimera the best without spooking him. He wasn't used to this odd crazy behaviour of his. It's like he didn't know him at all in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>But neither did Theo seem to hear Liam nor to see him. In fact, he looked deeply occupied and clearly enjoying himself in that moment. And Liam would surely start to freak out by now, wasn't it for the expression of pure contentment on the other boys face.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Last Friday night</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Yeah, we maxed our credit cards</em>
  <br/>
  <em>And got kicked out of the bar, so we hit the boulevard ….</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Last Friday night …..</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yepp, this was what Theo appeared to have been singing the entire time. And man was it strange to hear him like that. His voice all raspy – which was admittingly hot (again, <em>what the hell?</em>)– did neither match the rhythm nor the tones. But Theo seemed to be having fun anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, probably sensing Liam's stare, the chimera turned slightly to the left side and nodded at the beta once, throwing nothing but a casual look at him as a sign of acknowlegement. Liam's mouth dropped open in suprise and confusion.</p><p> </p><p>„Um … Could you … Theo! Could you just stop please? I need to talk to you“. And hell if he didn't. He wasn't liking this new Theo situation at all – as entertaining as it might be. Because his alarm bells suddenly started to ring louder and louder with every passing second now. Because Theo had been CURSED the day before and now the beta was pretty sure the chimera's new behaviour had very much to do with that.</p><p> </p><p>Theo's lack of reaction wasn't helping him at all. Exasperated, Liam marched across the kitchen and turned the radio off.</p><p> </p><p>„Hey!“, came a bewildered protest from the older boy. So THAT trigged a reaction from him. <em>Good</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Liam sighed and took a step towards the now pouting chimera, trying not too much to look at his well defined six pack. „Look, we need to talk“, he said and drew another breath collecting himself. „I wanted to know if you eventually remember what had happened to you yesterday ...“, he tried, carefully studying Theo's face for any sign of recognition.</p><p> </p><p>For a whole minute the chimera's face was blank, the two boys staring at each other silently. Just as Liam began to uncomfortably shift under Theo's expressionless gaze, the chimera gave him nothing but a slight rise of his right eyebrow. As if it was <em>Liam</em>, who was behaving crazy, and not himself.</p><p> </p><p>„No“, he said, and it really sounded more like a question rather than a statement. „I mean, what SHOULD have happened?“</p><p> </p><p>It took Liam a couple of second to stop gaping. But eventually he came to a decision. „Um, no … I mean, nothing. I just wanted to … know“. And hell if that answer wasn't lame.</p><p> </p><p>Theo narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying it.<em> Good, at least THAT hasn't changed</em>, Liam was thinking under a relieved breath.</p><p> </p><p>„I mean, why would you even ask? Did we sleep together or something? 'Cause I think I would still remember that“, the chimera stated bewildered.</p><p> </p><p>Liam chocked, throwing Theo a look of horror. <em>What the hell???</em> I mean, being subtle wasn't Theo's thing in general, but never would he ever ask a question like THAT, would he? Surely, sometimes he would throw a dirty comment or two, but he knew he was only doing it to ennoy the beta for his own twisted amusement purposes. But looking at this new version of Theo Liam couldn't find that famiar flicker of amusement anywhere on his face. It was as if now the chimera was being really <em>serious </em>about it - not to mention a slight note of confusion making his way into his scent. That didn't seem like the old Theo – the one he grew to know – at all.</p><p>„What? No! Hell no! What are you even thinking??“, he protested somewhat defensively, being perfectly aware of the furious blush spreading on his face at an alarmingly fast pace. <em>And how the hell did something like this pop into Theo's mind in the first place??</em> Was he even into boys? Did Liam give him any indication in the past to trigger that kind of thinking? He hoped he didn't. That would be embarrassing.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo – being his usual asshole self (and Liam was inwardly relieved that didn't seem to have changed either) – didn't give much reaction to this one as well. „Yeah, whatever“, he shrugged, looking down at his bottle of milk in desinterest, before bringing it to his lips once again. For him the whole conversation seemed to be over.</p><p> </p><p>Now Liam was starting to get angry. It was like his irritation and embarrassment finally began to melt into one strict line of hot rage. At least THAT was something he could deal with.</p><p> </p><p>„You know you are NOT supposed to drink the milk this way, right? I mean, what are you, a wild animal?“. Inwardly, Liam began to feel like a bitchy child. Not that he cared much about it at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Theo just huffed dismissively. „What are you, my mom?“</p><p> </p><p>Liam narrowed his eyes, outraged. „No! But if you're planning on continuing to behave like an asshole today, you might as well go live in your truck once again!“</p><p> </p><p>The second those words left the beta's mouth, he regretted it instantly. Ouch, that was not his finest retort at all, knowing just how sensitive the chimera proved to be around this topic. And especially since Liam didn't mean it like this.</p><p> </p><p>Inwardly preparing himself for at least a punch in the face he immediately started to apologize.</p><p> </p><p>„Look, Theo, I … I d-didn't mean it like that, I <em>swear</em>“, he stuttered softly, looking down slightly ashamed. „Please don't get mad, I guess I just lost myself there for a moment“.</p><p> </p><p>The silence that stretched after this made Liam look up at Theo's face. But the chimera's face didn't hold any real emotion. No anger, no distress. It was just blank once again. „Sure, whatever“, he simply shrugged closing the fridge and going to the radio to turn it on once again.</p><p> </p><p>It was then that Liam knew something here was TERRIBLY wrong. He needed to call Scott.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Pack Night - Part 1: Never Have I Ever</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Well well, this is THE moment of truth ... What.Is.Wrong.With.Theo???</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>„Scott? I think we have a problem“.</p><p> </p><p>Liam was hiding in the bathroom, trying to muffle his voice. No need for Theo to witness this conversation, especially with the chimera being so unpredictable at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>„What's up, Liam? Is it Theo? Are there any news?“, asked Scott in a concerned voice. Ever since the incident in the forest all of the pack members had been walking on eggshells around the topic of Theo and the curse. Every single one of them knew it was just a matter of time they got to know what was going on with him.</p><p> </p><p>„Y-yes. He … Well, could you do me a favor? I need you and the pack to be here tonight. You know, to observe Theo. He's being really weird and it's honestly starting to screep me out“, Liam answered in a rushed whisper.</p><p> </p><p>There was a short pause on the other end of the line. Then -</p><p> </p><p>„Yeah of course, we'll be there. Maybe we can pass it as a pack night or something“, Scott sighed.</p><p> </p><p>Liam blinked. „A pack night? Seriously? You know very well how Theo thinks about it. He always declines the invitations“</p><p> </p><p>„Yeah well, what else do you suggest? Just … Just try to make him, ok? It's not like he can go away or something. He's living here, remember?“</p><p> </p><p>Liam closed his eyes, tired. „Yeah ok, you're right. I got that. See you tonight“</p><p>*****</p><p>Liam was thankful that today was Sunday which meant no school. So one problem down. Under different circumstances he could be enjoying the rare winter sun right now. Maybe go chill at Mason's, heck, maybe just stay here playing video games with Theo as he always did during the weekends. Except that today Theo was … well, <em>unavailable. </em>For most part of the day he had just been staying in his room, only going out to use the bathroom or to steal a snack from the kitchen. The only few times Liam had spotted him he noticed that the older teen didn't even bother to fix his disheveled appearance. Which was also something rather untypical for the chimera. It was, as though he didn't bother about anything in the world anymore.</p><p> </p><p>And the loud rock music that kept coming from Theo's room non-stop kept disturbing Liam all day long. Since when did the chimera even listen to that kind of music, heck, to music at all??</p><p> </p><p>So in the end, the very exasperated beta finally decided to just do his homework, silently praying to survive his second part of the day until the pack's arrival. Not that he got any chance to actually do it. Because of Theo's ear splitting rock music of course.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, the door bell rang at 8 pm, silently anouncing the possible end of Liam's torture.</p><p> </p><p>„Guys! You don't know how glad I am to see you“, the beta exhaled loudly, as he enthusiastically welcomed Scott, Stiles, Malia, Lydia, Mason, Corey and Hayden. And yes, he was also more than glad to have Hayden here, the girl who basically dumped him before all the Monroe issue had happened, and who was back now. The more, the merrier, he thought. It was still way better than to have Theo all by himself here. At this very moment.</p><p> </p><p>„Soo, where is he?“, Mason whispered, slightly frowning at the unusually loud music coming from upstaires. Liam rolled his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>„Mase, you don't have to whisper“, he huffed. „Theo won't hear you, not with his newfound passion for music anyway. My poor ears had to endure those loud beats for at least six hours in a row today.“</p><p> </p><p>Mason whistled. „No kidding“.</p><p> </p><p>„Just wait here, I'll get him“, Liam just nodded. „If I'm lucky“, he added briefly, and headed upstairs.</p><p> </p><p>****</p><p>„Theo? You here?“, the beta asked hesitantly, after knocking on the chimera's bed room door. When he didn't hear a response he sighed and tried again.</p><p> </p><p>„Theo! I'm coming in now“. He really didn't have time for Theo's stubborness. With that, the boy pushed the door open.</p><p> </p><p>The music was playing and the room seemed to be empty. But thankfully, the faint sounds of water rushing indicated the chimera was in the shower. How long has he been in there now?</p><p> </p><p>Determined, Liam banged on the bathroom door. „Theo! Come out, I have to talk to you!“, he demanded, raising his voice.</p><p> </p><p>A slight „Umpf!“ was all the answer he got. Liam frowned. „You good in there?“</p><p> </p><p>Finally, after a few more seconds he heard the chimera's reply.</p><p> </p><p>„Jeez, Liam, will you wait for a minute? I'm coming“, Theo huffed, cleary exasperated.</p><p> </p><p>Now the beta was relieved. At least Theo seemed to be in his right mind after all. But really, how hasn't he managed to kill himself with such a loud amount of freaking rock music already??</p><p> </p><p>„Ok, I'm waiting. Just … just don't take too long, it's kind of important“, he said, trying to sound meaningful. Well, after all the pack night WAS important in some way now. They all were for Theo's sake here.</p><p> </p><p>The werewolf didn't have to wait for really long though, because the bathroom door opened just after another two minutes, causing Liam to look up.</p><p> </p><p>But looking up was apparently a mistake. It was a mistake the moment the beta's eyes involuntary fell on Theo's well defined sixpack, automatically taking in the rest of chimera's body from the waist below.</p><p> </p><p>It was then that Liam suddenly registered Theo's nudity. Heck, <em>why didn't he have at least a towel around the hips???</em></p><p> </p><p>Flushing furiously (was it because he liked what he'd seen??) he let out an especially girly scream he later was definitely going to be ashamed of, and hastily covered his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>„Theo! W-why are you … OMG WHY ARE YOU NAKED???“, he roared, once again wishing he were the one to be swallowed by the ground this time. He already felt his face heating up furiously, the blood loudly rushing in his ears. In his state, he didn't hear Theo's irritated huff of annoyance, and only after a few moments registered two warm hands on his arms. Two hands, that were lifting him up slightly and pushing him to the side.</p><p> </p><p>„Get over it Liam, that's what happens when you come out of a fresh shower, you know? Please don't say you haven't seen a dick before“, came the smug response, and the beta could have sworn to literally hear a smirk spreading on the chimera's face.</p><p> </p><p>„Gosh, you could have WARNED me maybe?? Don't you have ANY modesty left in you?“, he hissed, hoping to mask the stark scent of embarassment. After all, you can only feel one thing at a time, he remembered.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, and thankfully, hearing the sound of a zipper being pulled up the younger boy once again regained a certain sense of safety.</p><p> </p><p>„Um … Can I put my hands down now?“, he asked, already turning towards where he thought the chimera was standing.</p><p> </p><p>Anothing dismissive huff. Then -</p><p> </p><p>„Sure“</p><p> </p><p>So Liam lowered his hands to see Theo standing there in a fresh pair of black tight jeans, currently pulling on a white – and also very tight – shirt, with his hair wet and messy and looking incredibly hot. <em>Waaaiit, not THAT again</em>, Liam groaned inwardly. He wasn't into Theo, God help him.</p><p> </p><p>„Um, ok, so ...“, he rushed awkwardly, after loudly clearing his throat. „So, um, I wanted to tell you that we have guests tonight. Well, n-not some guests, but the p-pack actually. You know, we are having a pack night tonight“, he finished, still flushing from what he just had to witness, while looking everywhere but at Theo's face.</p><p> </p><p>Silence. Then Theo finally sighed. „And? What does it have to do with me?“, he asked impatiently.</p><p> </p><p>Liam winced slightly. „Oh! Y-yeah … Well, I know you don't really feel comfortable at being around the pack, let alone at attending any kind of bonding events, but today I really, like REALLY want you to be there. The pack doesn't actually hold any grudge against you anymore, so we all should at least try to start working towards bonding with you. The fact that you are currently the pack's ally proves all the trust that Scott and the others are already starting to show towards you. And I really think that all the bonding activities might convince them to even accept you into the pack.“ And it wasn't entirely a lie, because Liam DID believe that. He had to.</p><p> </p><p>After his little speech Liam kept counting the heartbeats. He never had been this honest with the chimera before. No offense, but heart-to-heart conversations weren't his thing. And nor were they Theo's. At least he thought so. This is why the silence that stretched out after that suddenly began to feel more than unnerving.</p><p> </p><p>„Sooo … Are you coming?“, Liam asked again, looking up and trying to mask his hopeful state into an indifferent tone.</p><p> </p><p>Finally Theo simply smirked, the amusement never reaching his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>„Yeah, why not“, he said. And that, Liam noted disbelievingly, was the first time the other boy has ever agreed to something like that.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>A few minutes later both boys finally came downstairs, facing the pack, who was now seated comfortably on the floor, creating a big circle.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, look who's coming“, Stiles grinned in such a cheerful voice that Liam almost considered it as creepy. But he couldn't blame the human, because he himself still didn't know how to react to the fact that Theo for once had agreed to his proposal without a fuss. But then again, this was the actual cause of this whole idea: Theo needed supervision 'cause currently Theo was being unpredictable.</p><p> </p><p>The large bottle of what could only be assumed as booze currently held in Stiles hands stopped Liam short in his tracks.</p><p> </p><p>„Um, what's that? You know we can't get drunk, right? Anyway, I thought we were going to watch movies or something?“, he asked irritated.</p><p> </p><p>The group before them grinned. „Nah“, Scott said. „We were thinking more of playing a drinking game. You don't really have to get drunk for that.“</p><p> </p><p>Liam rised his eyebrow. „You don't? Well, what's the game?“</p><p> </p><p>„Never Have I ever“, Lydia answered, rolling her eyes. Always being the mature one in a bunch of kids. But if they wanted to play this so badly so be it.</p><p> </p><p>At that Liam threw Theo an uncertain look. „Theo?“, he asked silently. Theo only rised a brow to that.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, first of all, werewolfs CAN get drunk. Wolfsbane, remember?“, he threw Mason a meaningful look. „Second, what are the rules?“</p><p> </p><p>The pack members shared stunned glances. Theo and games? Well, that was new.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>After explaining the game rules the teenagers finally started the game. And it was perfect, Liam had to admit. Which way was better than that to eventually drag out some truth of the usually so introverted chimera? Well, besides of Truth or Dare.</p><p> </p><p>„Never have I ever … run naked in the woods“, said Malia with a sickingly sweet voice. This was followed by a few amused huffs from certain members of the pack, and by Malia, Liam, Lydia and Theo drinking from their cups.</p><p> </p><p>„C'mon, Malia“, Stiles groaned facepalming himself. „Don't you think that was a little lame? I mean, we are surrounded by <em>werewolves</em> here. Werewolves AND a bunshee. Running naked in the woods is like their second nature“, he added smugly, earning a few glares from the pack. Malia growled slightly.</p><p> </p><p>„Ok, ok“, she hissed. „Then maybe YOU can do it better?“</p><p> </p><p>Stiles threw everyone a grin of a predator. „Yes, indeed. Never have I ever … slept with a person of the same gender!“, he announced, already rising a cup to his lips. Theo followed him closely taking a sip of his own.</p><p> </p><p>„STILES???“ „THEO???“, several shocked voices exclaimed at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Stiles just smirked smugly. Theo, on the other hand, threw a bewildered look around the circle. „What?“, he asked and actually looked startled for a second.</p><p> </p><p>„I mean, w-what? When did it even happen?“, asked Mason looking at Theo wide-eyed, after the group somewhat regained their ability to speak.</p><p> </p><p>Theo furrowed his eyebrows, otherwise looking really unbothered for someone who just dropped a certain bombshell about their … what? Sexuality?</p><p> </p><p>„I mean, c'mon guys, everyone knew about Stiles and Derek, right?“, Mason asked, earning a few other shocked gasps from several people. Others just smirked knowingly. „But“, Mason proceeded, „Aren't we going to talk about Theo?“</p><p> </p><p>„I'm still here, you know?“, Theo huffed. „No need to talk about me in third person“.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, then, how did it even happen? Are you … gay?“, asked Liam. But as soon as he said it he wished he didn't. Why did he sound so hopeful???</p><p> </p><p>At that, the chimera looked at him as though the beta was being a fool. „No“, he said slowly, exasperated. „I was just on a mission the Dread Docs had sent me to. Having sex with that guy provided me with all the information they needed.“</p><p> </p><p>Several chocking sounds could be heard. Liam's eyebrows rose into his hairline.</p><p> </p><p>„What?!“, Stiles exclaimed, his tone shocked but creepily exited. „Let me get this right: you are a straight male, but you used to whore around for Dread Doctors by fucking ANOTHER male and not even have a problem with it??“</p><p> </p><p>Never having lost his general cool composure even for a second, the chimera just rolled his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>„I just said it, right? What is so unclear in this sentense?,, he huffed. „I had a mission. It had to be done. And I didn't say I was straight, I'm actually bi if you must know“.</p><p> </p><p>A short silence followed. And by now everyone of the room somehow knew something was up with Theo indeed.</p><p> </p><p>„Do you … Do you even REGRET anything you did in the past? With the Dread Doctors, you know?“, Mason asked suddenly. Everyone looked at him as the room immediately flooded with a thick tension. Ever since Theo came back from Hell, nobody of them had ever dared to ask him this question. Deep down, they <em>knew </em>he had changed, judging by every good action he has done since then. Which also meant he actually regretted his past actions. Still, the chimera has never once voiced his regret or offered an apology on that matter.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, Theo sighed. „No? I mean yeah? I don't know. It's not like I had a choice doing everything I did. They would have killed me, if I didn't“, he simply said, shrugging.</p><p> </p><p>The pack members looked at each other in utter bewilderment now. They knew Theo could be ruthless, but it wasn't like he didn't learn his lesson back in Hell, right?</p><p> </p><p>Unless …</p><p> </p><p>„Theo“, Scott began cautiously. „Do you remember what happened to you after your plans taking the Beast's power failed?“</p><p> </p><p>The chimera furrowed his eyes in surprised confusion, as if trying to remember. „Um … I think there was Kira. She had this sword. A katana or something.“, he recalled slowly. „I remember her drawing it into the ground. And then … then … I woke up in my truck. And then Liam and Hayden found me, asking me for help with the Ghost Riders.“</p><p> </p><p>Liam gasped. So he didn't KNOW. Theo couldn't remember his experience in Hell. Once again they were right at the beginning now.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Soo ... I'm not entirely sure how exactly the "Never Have I Ever" game goes, but I think you got what I meant;) What do you think about this chapter anyway?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Pack Night - Part 2: Truth or Dare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hi guys! You can consider this as the second part of the third chapter 'cause it's quite fitting and I'm still waiting for my 30 likes ;). Anyway, enjoy it and let me know what you think!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tension in the room was suffocating. Nobody dared to move, all eyes directed at the chimera. Upon noticing the sudden change in the atmosphere, the said chimera blinked and then put up his hands in front of himself slowly, as though indicating he wasn't being a threat here.</p><p> </p><p>„Guys“, he said slowly, giving a tentative and shy smirk. „What's wrong? Am I missing here something?“</p><p> </p><p>At this, several members of the pack averted their stares, suddenly finding big interest in the floor they where sitting on.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, perfect!“, Stiles exclaimed, once again gesturing dramatically in front of himself. „JUST what we needed! Liam, I'm gonna kill you!“, he pouted, threatingly pointing at the beta. Liam swallowed guiltily. He didn't even care what Stiles was blaming him for, though he had a vague idea. Well, they were screwed.</p><p> </p><p>„Do you … feel the need to kill anyone … right now?“, Mason asked tentatively, earning a not so gentle shove from his boyfriend. Theo snorted.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, I can ASSURE you I'm not plotting anything, if that's what you mean“, he said smirking. „And here I was thinking we were getting past all of this hate and awkwardness. The times have changed, I don't want your pack anymore, remember? Actually, I'm quite happy with what I have“, he added, briefly looking at Liam. The latter one flushed. What did Theo even MEAN by that comment?</p><p> </p><p>The others noticed their brief glance exchange too. Scott looked at his beta with a questioning eyebrow. Liam just shrugged, faining nonchalance. After holding his gaze for a few more seconds, the Alpha finally cleared his throat.</p><p> </p><p>„Well, I think we could use a break. Theo, Liam? Where do you keep all those snacks again?“, he grinned tightly lipped.</p><p> </p><p>After taking the silent hint, the blue eyed boy immediately sprang into action, eager to resolve all the awkward tension in the room. „Right, c'mon Theo!“, he called, already turning towards the kitchen and silently praying the chimera wasn't going to stay right where he was and trying to sneak up on the other members of the pack to hear what they were going to discuss.</p><p> </p><p>As if it were going to be this difficult, given Theo still had his enhanced hearing.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Finally, Liam heard Theo's footsteps behind him indicating he was following. The werewolf didn't even know whether to be scared, or relieved, or both. Of course this was still the Theo he was living with now, more so the Theo he had spend this whole day with. The Theo, who – apart from having almost killed his hearing senses – hadn't already killed him if he really had wanted to. So what was the problem here? The problem was, that after learning the truth about the curse Liam didn't really know how to behave around the chimera anymore.</p><p> </p><p>„Liam“, Theo called, letting out an exhausted sigh behind him. „Liam, wait!“</p><p> </p><p>After reaching the fridge, the beta abruptly turned around. „What?“, he asked breathlessly. He was getting nervous now.</p><p> </p><p>„Liam“, Theo tried again, hesitantly reaching for the beta's right sleeve.</p><p> </p><p>„Whatever it is that I'm missing, you know you don't have to be afraid of me, right?“, he asked, directly looking into Liam's eyes as if searching for some truth there. „You … Look, I know I f-fucked up, ok? Like big time. But I've changed. I just hope you noticed“, he finished softly.</p><p> </p><p>Liam studied the chimera's face cautiously, listening to his heartbeat at the same time. He didn't find anything suspicious though, the other boy's heart beating strongly and evenly. Still, the beta still knew who he was dealing with here.</p><p> </p><p>„Well“, he dragged out. „I don't know what exactly it is that you remember … or not remember, but I guess I'm willing to give you a chance to earn my trust. You're living at my house, so I guess we'll have to work this out eventually. To avoid any awkwardness, you know?“</p><p> </p><p>Show him trust. But stay attentive. Beat him with his own weapons. That was Liam's plan. He was just trying to be smarter now.</p><p> </p><p>Theo seemed to take the bait, judging by his releaved expression.</p><p> </p><p>„Yeah, yeah! We could do that“, he grinned, the smile actually reaching his eyes this time.</p><p> </p><p>„But“, the beta suddenly remembered something, already feeling the heat rising up in his cheeks. . And damn, how could he even have forgotten that already? „Just try not to make it awkward by pulling some stunts like you did today … while I was there too, you know?“</p><p> </p><p>Theo just blinked several times stupidly, before the realization suddenly dawned on him, causing a mischivious grin onto his face which Liam was already starting to dislike.</p><p> </p><p>„Oh, you mean me coming from the shower?“, he said in an annoying sing-song voice. „I bet you liked the show, didn't you?“, he chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>The beta fumed, not knowing how to hide his embarrassment anymore.</p><p> </p><p>„I just told you no more awkwardness, remember?“, he hissed, irritated.</p><p> </p><p>Theo just quirked a provocative eyebrow. „You don't really have to be awkward about it, you know?“</p><p> </p><p>The beta groaned. What an asshole. Seriously, he somehow liked Theo's strange robotic and indifferent behaviour this morning all better already.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>„So!“, Stiles clapped his hands together, startling half of the pack who was already seated again once Liam and Theo came into the room to join the others. „I think it's time for the second round of the evening. We'd all already agreed to play Truth Or Dare“, he announced proudly, grinning like a cat who ate the canary. Whatever the pack was talking about during their little break, it had clearly cheared Stiles - and all the others - up.</p><p> </p><p>„Cool, I'm the first“, Lydia said. „Scott, truth or dare?“</p><p> </p><p>Scott smirked. „Dare“. Several members of the pack whistled.</p><p> </p><p>„I dare you to … do a lapdance for Malia!“</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing that, Scott's face took on a shocked expression, earning him a few amused chuckles and a cheerful „Go, Scotty!“ from non other than Stiles. His best friend the traitor.</p><p> </p><p>„Oh c'mon“, he groaned, already burying his face in his hands. „Do I really have to?“</p><p> </p><p>Lydia rolled her eyes, a little smile forming on her full lips. „Dare is Dare, Scott. You chose it“</p><p> </p><p>And this is how Scott – their mightly Alpha – ended up doing an awkward, but utterly amusing, lapdance for his girlfriend Malia, right on her lap of course.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>„Ok“, he said breathlessly, after finishing this embarrassing task. „let's just not talk about it … like … for the rest of our lives, ok?“. This just earned him a few more snorts and chuckles. Even more so, Theo was actually brave enough to let out a loud bark of laugh. And the look on his face literally promissed Scott to taunt him about the Alpha's little stunt forever.</p><p> </p><p>Scott threw the chimera a bewildered look, an idea suddenly popping into his head.</p><p> </p><p>„Theo“, he smiled sweetly. But the look in his eyes was intense and examining. „Truth or dare?“.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera stopped laughing, and his face took on a thoughful expression. „Truth“, he said, earning a muffled „That's a new one“, from Stiles. At that, the chimera growled slightly, exasperated.</p><p> </p><p>„What are the two most attractive people in this room you would willingly want to hook up with?“, Scott asked.</p><p> </p><p>The room fell silent once again, everyone holding their breath. After all, Theo never stopped to surprise them – whether in a good, or in a bad way.</p><p> </p><p>But the chimera just shrugged, his heartbeat steady. „That would be Malia and Liam, obviously“, he finally snorted. Not even blinking.</p><p> </p><p>„WHAT??“, Liam just couldn't help himself, chocking on his own saliva. Malia just growled threatingly at the nonchalant chimera. „Pfft, in your DREAMS, pretty boy“, she huffed. Theo grinned cheekily.</p><p> </p><p>Liam, though, was far from ok. He felt as though he were suffocating. From panic. From embarrassment. From bemusement maybe? He wasn't sure. All he was sure about was that never in hell had he expected Theo to like him that way. Fuck.</p><p> </p><p>„So … You like Liam. Just awesome. Like … HOW DO YOU DARE TO THINK OF MY UNDERAGE SON THAT WAY???“, Stiles suddenly fumed, but it looked all admittingly funny.</p><p> </p><p>„Hey, I'm NOT your son!“, Liam groaned, turning even redder now. Could this evening get even more embarrassing than it already was???</p><p> </p><p>„Hey“, Theo just raised his hands in front of himself for the second time this evening. „No need to get so worked up because of me, you know?“, he said, looking utterly amused. „I wouldn't do that to Liam, because I know he's straight. Of course, I'd still have it with Malia – I mean have you SEEN her? - but Liam is like my roommate, so …“</p><p> </p><p>Several people just blinked. Malia started growling even louder, silently promising the chimera to kill him once they were alone. Then -</p><p>„DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING MY ONLY CHILD!“, Stiles screamed once again, looking as though being on the verge of a panic attack. Lydia just hushed him, throwing an amused look into the circle.</p><p> </p><p>Theo frowned. Then a knowing smirk suddenly spread across his face.</p><p> </p><p>„Who said he was the one getting fucked? I'd GLADLY let him fuck ME instead“, he grinned shamelessly.</p><p> </p><p>Silence. One. Two. Three. Four. Then -</p><p> </p><p>„OMG I'm out of here!“. With that, Liam ran out of the room so quickly you could mistake him for a blur.</p><p> </p><p>Silence. One. Two. Three.</p><p> </p><p>„What?“, asked Theo innocently. „What did I do now?“</p><p> </p><p>Several groans could be heard, followed by a casual „Idiot!“ and „Unbelievable!“ coming from Stiles.</p><p> </p><p>„Well“, Mason answered slowly. „I think you just disturbed my best friend for life“.</p><p> </p><p>Theo smirked. „Well since all of you still think i'm the bad guy here, I don't have to feel bad about it, right?“</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Liam, Mason and Corey go to a party. Something happens ... :P</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Liam was weirded out. LITERALLY. There he was lying in his bed and wondering what the today's day would bring him. Was he about to be confronted with even more of Theo's weird behaviour? Oh, he was SURE about that. But thinking about the chimera right now was the very last thing Liam was wishing for. Because everytime he did it, certain disturbing words kept echoing in his ears. It was Theo suggesting to have sex with him. He was offering Liam to fuck him. Oh. My.God. The beta didn't even know what to think of this. And he sure as hell couldn't look the chimera in the eyes. Did the latter mean it? Or maybe he has just been fooling around? Liam didn't even know him anymore. Not this Theo. Not this psychopath he apparently had been reverted to. Right back to the beginning. The heartless, unpredictable machine. How poetic.</p><p> </p><p>This is why Liam had been avoiding him after the pack night. And this was also why he was dreading Monday. The school day. Which was literally today. Because he knew that usually Theo was the one to drive him to school. And that's because he has been attending the school again for a while now. Studying with Liam in the same grade. Which also meant taking most of his classes right next to him. Perfect. Freaking FABOULOUS. Just what the beta needed right now.</p><p> </p><p>Just as Liam began considering calling Mason to pick him up instead, he heard the silent conversation between his mother and Theo down in the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>„I swear to God, this boy's sleep is heavier than that of a bear. Sweetie, would you mind going upstairs and wake him up already? He's gonna be late for school.“</p><p> </p><p>Oh no. Please don't let Theo go after him. He wouldn't survive facing the chimera right now. This is exactly what Liam was thinking, while hastily springing out of the bed. „I'm COMING!“, he shouted, hoping to prevent Theo from going into his room.</p><p> </p><p>„Oh he's up, you heard him. Can I go to school now?“, Theo said in a somewhat bored voice. Jenna huffed.</p><p> </p><p>„Oh no, young man. You're staying right here and waiting for Liam. You have to drive him to school, remember?“</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing these words, Liam groaned pathetically. And he could swear he heard Theo doing the same downstairs. Since when did Theo refuse to drive him, anyway? He thought they were friends.</p><p> </p><p>After a while of fussing in the bathroom, Liam finally came into the kitchen, his eyes instinctively going into Theo's direction. The chimera didn't even seem to notice his presense. Did it mean he was ignoring him too now? Liam suddenly felt a wave of anger rising. How DARE he??</p><p> </p><p>„Morning mom“, he said dryly. Theo still didn't spare him a glance. Seriously, he was getting tired of chimera's mood swings by now.</p><p> </p><p>„I'm gonna wait in the truck. Bye Jenna“, Theo finally said, not giving Jenna the chance to retort. Huh. Did he even had breakfast?</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>As much as Liam had been trying to drag out time, it didn't do him any good in the end. This is why currently he was rushing to Theo's truck, perfectly knowing they were probably already late for school.</p><p> </p><p>„What took you so long, Dunbar?“, Theo still sounded bored, seemingly ignoring the way the beta was now staring at him, once seated. And could you blame Liam? First, since when were they back to surnames again? Second, since when did Theo wear sunglasses? It was the beginning of WINTER, for God's sake. Not that the chimera didn't look hot in them. And let's just pretend Liam <em>didn't</em> just have this last thought popping into his head, shall we?</p><p> </p><p>So he just huffed, trying to imitate Theo's level of indifference. Silently, they made their way to school.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>„Hello class“, their math teacher, Mrs. Squirrel, announced loudly, after the class was seated. „Before we move into our next topic, I'd like you to greet our new student, Tessa“, she smiled and gestured for the said student to come in. The moment the girl stepped into the classroom, several students – the MALE ones anyway – stretched out their necks and straightened their backs a little bit further, curiously eyeing the newcomer. Liam had to give it to her – Tessa was definitely a sight. With her long red curls and green smokey eyes, it was just hard not to look at her.</p><p> </p><p>„Why don't you take a seat, dear?“, Mrs. Squirrel asked kindly, already pointing to the empty seat right behind Theo. Just freaking perfect!</p><p> </p><p>Once Tessa's eyes fell on Theo, she flashed him an approving – and possibly - flirty smile. And Theo? He could practically FEEL his smirk. Liam groaned inwardly.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>„Liam!“, Scott hissed on the other line of the phone, his voice laced with disappointment. Just what Liam had been afraid of, after dreading the phone conversation with his Alpha all the way back to home. You see, Theo hadn't bothered to pick him up after school, so Liam had to ask Mason. And it wasn't even a problem, had he at least known where the chimera had gone. After all, he was still Liam's responsibility and was supposed – well, SUPPOSED anyway – to currently be under constant watch.</p><p> </p><p>„Scott, I'm sorry. I KNOW I screwed up“, Liam mumbled guiltily, feeling like a child being lectured.</p><p> </p><p>„So you also know the reason you weren't allowed to let him out of your sight, right? Those games we'd been playing during the pack night weren't just games, you know? It was designed to drag out the truth of Theo, to learn what the curse did to him. And you saw what we saw too, right? He's back to his pre-hell self, Liam. He is DANGEROUS.“</p><p> </p><p>Liam swallowed. He knew that perfectly well. And he certainly would have put up more affort into looking after Theo if he had been able to look him in the eyes. Damn, he really was screwed.</p><p> </p><p>„Ok“, he sighed. „I'm gonna try to contact him“. He needed to get past his pride for this one, really.</p><p> </p><p>After a short silence on the other end of the line Scott sighed too. „I wonder why you haven't done it already, Liam. Just let me know once you find him, ok?“</p><p> </p><p>After a silent „ok“ Liam put up his courage and texted Theo.</p><p> </p><p><strong> To Theo:</strong> <em>Where are you?</em></p><p> </p><p>He waited for 60 seconds straight, staring at his screen. Still no message. Liam huffed, throwing his phone onto the bed sheets. It was stupid. But two could play the game.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Theo's message came almost an hour later.</p><p> </p><p><strong>From Theo:</strong> <em>I'm at Tessa's place. We're studying.</em></p><p> </p><p>Liam stared at the words stupidly processing their meaning, an unfamiliar – and irritating – pang of jealousy slowly rising in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>When did Theo become so social anyway? And studing with TESSA? Wasn't she a number too big for him? I mean, with all her looks and all?</p><p> </p><p>But Liam inwardly knew that she wasn't. In fact, she was the perfect match for Theo. Beautiful people always find each other, right?</p><p> </p><p>Wait, he didn't just think Theo was <em>beautiful</em>, did he? What was even happening to him??</p><p> </p><p>But another message interrupted the beta's musings.</p><p> </p><p><strong>From Theo:</strong> <em>Tessa's throwing a welcome party tonight, wanna come?</em></p><p> </p><p>As he read the message, Liam felt a scowl forming on his face. Great, not did Theo made him feel alone and abandoned today after school – by literally ABANDONING him – but now Liam felt like also being a third wheel. No doubt Theo was going to enjoy the party with his precious TESSA. Why would he even bother to invide Liam then? Especially after his cold-hearted asshole behaviour today morning.</p><p> </p><p>Nevermind, Liam knew he had a job to do. Even if it consisted of babysitting Theo. He would DEFINITELY go to this dumb party. He just had to call Mason.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>„Holy FUCK!“, were the first two words that escaped Mason's mouth after he, Corey and Liam entered the adressed building. To say that it was impressive inside was an understatement. Because Tessa's parents were OBVIOUSLY very rich. The large room was decorated with thousands of lights and confetti. Everywhere were sofas arranged around a huge flat TV attached to a wall. Some sort of comedy was currently being played, but despite his werewolf hearing Liam still couldn't understand a word coming from the actors because of the loud dance music coming from every corner of the room. People were everywhere. Like half of the school or something. The party seemed to be in progress for a while now.</p><p> </p><p>„So, what now?“, Mason shouted over the loud beats of music. „Wanna go find Theo?“</p><p> </p><p>Liam shrugged. „Nah, gonna get a drink first“. And he meant it. He really wasn't ready to face Theo with his new girlfriend. He DID need to be drunk enough for this.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>As much as Liam was already despising the new girl (what was with all that <em>jealousy</em>?? Liam certainly kept surprising himself more and more lately), he was really glad – freaking DELIGHTED – to discover Tessa even owned a whole bar here – inclusing the barkeeper.</p><p> </p><p>„Gonna have vodka, please“, he mumbled. Mason threw him a disbelieving look. „Dude, are you THAT desperate? You can't even get drunk“. The beta ignored him, downing the glass in one go. His throat was on fire. „Let me, Mase“, he croaked. „At least let me have the illusion of it working“.</p><p> </p><p>Mason shook his head, his eyes still wide. „You're hardcore“. Liam snorted.</p><p> </p><p>Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden outburst of a rap song, followed by multiple cheerful screams. Suddenly, people from all directions rushed into the centre of the room – right infront of the bar – and started dancing to the music.</p><p>„C'mon, Love, let's dance“, Corey smiled cheerfully, visibly impressed by all that energy. His eyes lit up when Mason nodded. „What about you, Liam?“</p><p> </p><p>Liam actually thought it was a good idea. Not that he liked dancing very much, but it also meant relaxing, and relaxing meant there was a chance he wasn't going to lose his shit once faced with Tessa and Theo.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>It turned out it WAS a good idea. They've been dancing for a while now and Liam was losing himself in the beat. With his eyes closed and his movements flying freely through the air, all his problems seemed to have retreated to the very back of his mind. He wasn't a werewolf. He wasn't someone with a responsibility. Here, he was just a boy. A carefree teenager. Just Liam. That's who he was.</p><p> </p><p>That was until his enhanced nose spotted a painfully familiar scent. He almost cringed. The scent was there, but it was mixed with something else. With SOMEONE else. Strongly.</p><p> </p><p>Liam immediately opened his eyes, already scanning the crowded room. He didn't have to search for long though. And once he found it, he literally choked on his own saliva.</p><p> </p><p>A few feet to the right there was Theo. He was dancing, his torso naked. No<em> screw</em> that, he was GRINDING against non other than TESSA, who was currently only in a bra herself, her short leather skirt not living much to imagination. And Liam could have handled even that, weren't there also some other, equally naked, guy grinding tightly against Theo's back.</p><p> </p><p>And Theo? The usual Mr. Do-Not-Touch-Me-I'm-Too-Cool-For-You? That one seemed to be REVELING in all this sexual attention he was currently receiving. Without a trace of shame. His eyes closed, full lips parted, the head thrown back onto the tall guy's shoulder. Almost in an act of SUBMISSION.</p><p> </p><p>Liam growled loudly. He didn't know whether to be angry at Theo for being slutty or at his suddenly rousing errection. <em>Oh shit</em>.</p><p> </p><p>But if the scene before him wasn't bad enough already, Tessa suddenly leaned in to kiss Theo. And the bastard let her. In fact, he didn't even seem to register much now. He just let himself be used like this. He didn't stop her.</p><p> </p><p>Nor did he stop the guy leaning into his back take his chin from behind and lick into Theo's mouth as well. Soon, Tessa and the guy started sharing Theo in a series of disgusting kisses.</p><p> </p><p>„Um Liam? Why do I suddenly have the hallucination of Theo furiously making out in a hot human sandwich?“, Mason's voice abruptly rang in the beta's ears.</p><p> </p><p>Liam hissed. „Well, I don't know. It looks like Theo is REALLY back to whoring himself around“, he spat, feeling furious and sick at the same time now. „Let's go home, guys. If I'm staying here any longer witnessing THIS I'm gonna throw up. Literally“. And he wasn't even exagerrating.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Only when he was outside and gulping in fresh air, Liam could finally begin to think clearly. <em>What the hell did he just witness</em>?? He was well aware of Theo's unpredictable behaviour, but why couldn't this guy give him a break for ONCE these days? He was really tired of Theo and his asshole behaviour. The stupid, sexy, irritating chimera. The beta would SHOW him what it meant to be played with like this. How to be a victim. He would DEFINITELY show him that soon!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Liam's Having A Bad Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So well ... Liam's having a really bad day. But is it a bad one indeed?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello to everyone and welcome back to my story. It took me a bit longer now to post this, but only because I've been waiting for the arrival of my new laptop. This chapter is a little bit longer as usual, so I hope it was worth the wait :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Liam was seething with anger. Yes, today was his birthday, and yes, in theory it was supposed to be one of the best days of the year. In theory. But this year he just wasn't in any mood for it. And yes, his bad mood might have had something to do with the fact that everyone kept kind of ignoring him today. Well, not exactly ignoring, but not acknowledging the fact, that today was, in fact, his birthday. Hm. And here he thought he had the best friends ever. So much for that.</p><p> </p><p>As if it weren't enough, there was one particular person that still kept irritating the beta more and more with each passing day. Because ever since that faithful curse that left Theo very apparently incapable of caring he slowly became more and more distant, now spending almost all of his time not with Liam, but with Tessa and her new friends. Some friends that proved to be an awful company. Mostly jocks. Rude and arrogant, being fools to everyone else. At least this is how the jocks in Beacon Hills High used to be. And boy, has Liam never ever thought in his entire life of the chimera being that kind of a person. But here he was. Not only socializing with those rude people but actually taking part in almost every prank they aimed for their poor unsuspecting victims. Such kind of victims like Liam, Mason or Corey. The ones who stayed in the background, instead of creating a show out of their pure existence.</p><p> </p><p>So that had Liam thinking: would Theo be someone like this, if it weren't for the Dread Doctors? Was it the REAL Theo the pack was dealing with now? Because honestly, the beta couldn't recognize him at all now. He was like an entire different person, and he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to feel about it better now that Theo wasn't running around killing people at least.</p><p> </p><p>“So what's up with you and Theo anyway?”, Mason asked, curiously looking at the left behind Liam. And damn, how did Mason even do this all the time? He wasn't a mind reading chimera, was he now? Because Liam sure as hell didn't need that one too at the moment. Sighing heavily, he turned his head into the direction Mason was looking. And sure enough, there was Theo, sitting on a lunch bench while seemingly eating Tessa's face. The sight of it made him cringe, even if he felt himself blushing subconsciously.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean? There's nothing going on with me and Theo. Nothing. At. All”. And oh boy, if it wasn't true. The two of them weren't seeing each other at all now. Not after Theo stopped driving the beta to school and back home about a week ago. Instead, the chimera seemed to be spending all of his nights at Tessa's or by some of his new “friends” now.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh”, Mason mumbled, exchanging quick glances with Cory. Liam, given his exhausted state of mind, decided not to question this one.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what are you doing today, anyway?”, he tried instead, silently surrendering himself to the fact of his so called friends actually forgetting about his 17<sup>th</sup> birthday.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, not much. Corey and I are going on a date today”, Mason shrugged nonchalantly. Liam's lips turned into a thin line at that, secretly trying to calm down his rising irritation. He really needed new friends now.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, have fun then”, he sighed, feeling sorry for himself now. In those situations he used to have Theo at least. Now it was as though everyone was turning away from him. And nobody even seemed to care to resolve Theo's little curse problem. There weren't any news from Deaton yet. The last time Liam heard from Scott the Alpha told him that Deaton has contacted a befriended witch, but had to receive a response yet. That was over two weeks ago now.</p><p> </p><p>“Gah”, Mason announced, as he continued to observe Theo's disgusting make out session. The one the chimera really wasn't subtle about. Never has Liam ever considered Theo to be a public person, really. “You remember the last time they made out like this? The one time we witnessed Theo in this human sandwich at the party? It's like I'm reliving it now all over again”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam pulled on a disgusted face. “Please don't remind me of that ever again”, he grunted. And really, could his day get any worse now?</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>It turned out, it could.</p><p> </p><p>Liam had spent the most of his afternoon at the school library, lazily reading a history book. He really hoped it would improve his mood. And he really didn't want to go home yet. But everything good had to come to an end, of course. So once the beta received a message from his mom, asking where he was, he reluctantly made his way out of school, feeling numb and detached all over his body.</p><p> </p><p>“Mom, I'm home”, he called, after stopping to listen. Oddly enough, he couldn't pick any sounds even with his werewolf ears. Frowning, he threw his rucksack over his right shoulder and made his way upstairs. But now that he was near enough did he finally hear a faint noise. Which grew louder and louder now. And -</p><p> </p><p>Oh. Liam's eyes widened at the realization. The noise was coming from Theo's room. And apart from the fact that <em>Heck, since when did Theo actually come home now instead of guesting with other people??</em>  did he detect what the noises were:</p><p> </p><p>“Oh Theo! More, just GIVE it to me already!”</p><p> </p><p>It were Tessa's moans. And it left Liam seething all over again!</p><p> </p><p>Because how DARE Theo-fucking-Raeken bring his wild and disgusting orgies into LIAM'S house now??? Not only was he behaving like an asshole towards the beta, but now THIS??? This was exactly the moment when Liam began to see red.</p><p> </p><p>With his nostrils flaring, he sprinted as fast as he could up the remaining stairs. That was it. Curse or not - that would be Theo's end! After all, the brat saw it coming. Given, there was at least a little bit of humanity left in him.</p><p> </p><p>“THEO!!”, Liam roared, banging on the locked door with all his might. And if it broke, the beta didn't care at the moment. “Open this fucking door right NOW!!!”</p><p> </p><p>Fairly enough, the sex noises stopped. Instead, muffled giggling could be heard now. And THIS made Liam even angrier.</p><p> </p><p>“I SAID, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!! You are NOT having sex in my house!!!”</p><p> </p><p>Instead, the mocking giggles increased, turning into a full bellied laughter now. Man, Liam didn't know it was possible to hate Theo's girlfriend even more than he already did.</p><p> </p><p>A few seconds later the door opened and the angry beta was faced with non other than the smug face of Theo Raeken. And once the chimera's eyes landed on the shorter boy, he actually had the nerve to shoot him a shit-eating grin. The one, that didn't actually reach his eyes but soon turned into a mixture of a cruel smirk and a sneer instead.</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me”, Theo said, his tone deadpan. “Did you want something?”</p><p> </p><p>The artificial politeness seemed to be the last straw for Liam. And with that, he punched the chimera in the face. Hard.</p><p> </p><p>With sick satisfaction he watch Theo lose his balance and fall to his knees, desperately clutching at his nose. But Liam wasn't done yet.</p><p> </p><p>“You – OUT!”, he spat, pointing at the still half naked Tessa, who tried to cover her breasts with the bed sheets. The beta couldn't give a damn though.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily for both of them, the girl seemed to take the hint rather quickly, and all but threw herself out of bed, quickly pulling on her shirt and jeans. Then with one frightful look on her face she fled the room, nearly stumbling upon Theo in process. After a minute he heard the house door below being shut.</p><p> </p><p>After that, the room was covered in silence. Only being interrupted by Theo's soft moans of pain and Liam's ragged breathing.</p><p> </p><p>„<span>Dude, what the fuck is your PROBLEM?“, Theo groaned after a while. Liam glared down at him. Seriously, </span><span>didn't the chimera GET it yet???</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>My fucking problem is YOU!”, he spat, hauling the chimera up by his arm aggressively, earning another satisfying groan from him. Good.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>What?”, Theo was thrown off balance now. Really, how CLUELESS could a person be???</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>What do you think would happen, Theo?”, Liam said in a calm and predicting tone. “You first tell me, you would gladly let me fuck you, then you keep ignoring me for an entire fucking WEEK now, and then you finally came home only to fuck around here?! Do you even know how I feel about this??? Well, NEWSFLASH, asshole, I feel like a worthless PEACE OF SHIT! This is EXACTLY how you make me feel!”, Liam spat, already feeling unwanted tears that threatened to spill from his eyes at any second now. And he really shouldn't have gotten so angry with him. He knew he was probably exaggerating. But he didn't really know what made him so angry. There was simply the fact that Theo was driving him crazy every fucking minute. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The said chimera was staring at him now, his face unpredictable. And knowing that he was practically dealing with the version of the pre-hell Theo right now – the one who murdered his Alpha for God's sake – the chimera's blanc face was starting to creep him out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few seconds the two of them were just staring at each other. Then – just like that – Theo's eyes suddenly flicked to Liam's lips. For only one damn second. But it was enough for the beta to feel a sudden wave of rage and lust washing over him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And just like that he grabbed Theo's shirt and harshly pushed him forward, clumsily crashing their mouths together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ouch. The crash was hard enough to leave the both of them stumbling. And it now Liam was almost sure he was tasting blood on his tongue. Was it his? Was it Theo's? He really couldn't care less at the moment. All he knew was, how much he <em>hated</em> Theo. All his knew was how much he wanted to hurt the chimera. Just as much as the other one had been hurting him all those weeks. He wanted his friend back. But instead he got this … creature. The one who didn't care. The one who didn't show much emotion towards Liam. So maybe this … THIS – whatever they were doing right now – would draw at least SOME reaction from the smug asshole. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That is why the beta didn't even try to break the kiss. A faint <em>What the hell are you doing?!</em> was circling in the back of his mind, but he physically just couldn't stop himself now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So once Liam felt Theo trying to pull away, he simply bit down hard on the chimera's lip, holding his head in place. Right after that he manoeuvred the both of them towards his own bedroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they were in Liam's bedroom the beta pressed Theo against the inner side of the door, preventing him from escaping. A dark surge of glee swelled in his chest and suddenly all the beta could think now of was how much he wanted to hurt Theo and do unspeakable things to him. The little moans of pain the chimera was making were doing nothing to him but increasing his lust and <em>arousal</em>. Yes, you heard it right. Apparently all the arousing thoughts Liam kept experiencing now were the result of the beta trying to suppress his physical attraction to Theo ever since Liam has seen the other boy coming naked from the shower. Damn. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Liam gave into his dark urge. He didn't feel nearly as bad doing things to Theo as he would do it to any other person. This was THEO, for Heaven's sake. He had no morals himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>You want it too, don't you?”, he panted, breaking the kiss. “I can see it in your eyes, slut. Just give in already!”. And he really didn't know what caused him to speak out those words, those thoughts.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And if those words were ever supposed to hurt Theo's feelings, it had quite the opposite effect on him. Because his irises – as Liam gleefully noted to himself – were blows WIDE now. Wide and dark with mutual arousal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Yeah, that's what I thought”, Liam sneered, satisfied. “Don't you fucking move! I'm gonna get the lube”.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After getting the lube from his night stand he was right back at Theo, who was grinning now. The expression on his face was SICK. It strongly reminded Liam of the pre-hell Theo. And it did nothing to dampen his own arousal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>You really think you're punishing me, Dumbar?”, he panted, while letting Liam undo his pants. “If so, you don't know who you're dealing with here. I really wonder whether you've forgotten”.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And THIS made click something in Liam's head. He momentarily paused and narrowed his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>You did it all on purpose, didn't you?”, he sneered, the thought making him angrier somehow.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo's smirk grew even wider. “I already wondered, how long it would take you to figure it out. I've already told you I would let you fuck me by chance, didn't I?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And OH, that made sense now. That SON OF A BITCH. All the teasing, the nonchalance, the not so subtle hinting and wait …</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>What about Tessa?”, Liam wondered aloud, confused. “She's still your girlfriend, right?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo shrugged nonchalantly. “Just for show”, he smirked cruelly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And something in his chest made Liam cringe at those words. If Theo had no problem to play with Tessa like that, why would he play nicer with Liam? But on the other side, Theo was still a bastard who didn't have any morals. So to hell with those thoughts. He still had to accomplish his task – he wanted Theo to HURT.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So this is why Liam didn't even care with all the necessary preparation. There was no foreplay, no caressing, no body worship. In fact, once Theo's trousers were down to his knees, he didn't even throw a glance at his assets. He was only there for one purpose after all. To cause pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn't waste his time with preparing Theo for what was coming. He just lubed himself up and drove his cock into the chimera's body with one hard shove. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo let out a feral scream of pain. A virgin, huh? Well, he had been begging for it himself, after all. And despite the initial pain Liam was feeling himself, he immediately started pounding into the chimera's heat. He haven't given Theo time to adjust, he wanted it to hurt after all. To hurt as much as possible...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <span>The pack was exited. It was Mason's idea. They actually managed to gather everyone: Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Hayden, Mason, Corey. Even Malia and Derek were there. Everyone loved Liam, after all. So of course did they want to give him a proper Birthday party. And they all knew how much Liam loved surprises. So they all decided not to tell him anything today, pretending to have forgotten about his Birthday instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Liam's mom had also been really helpful, baking a cake and making sure Liam was home in the afternoon. After all, they had a whole evening planned for the pack. She knew they wanted some time for themselves, so she decided to go to a friend of hers for the rest of the day instead. And Liam's stepdad was working late anyway today.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What the poor pack hasn't been expecting once soundlessly entering Liam's house were the noises coming from upstairs. It was Scott, who stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Yes, Theo, Take it! Just fucking TAKE IT, you tease!!” This was followed by a loud moan, no doubt coming from the chimera.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that was enough for several members of the pack to start retching. Some of them figuratively, and some of them - in Stiles' case - quite literally. He just couldn't hold it – not after having eaten a whole pizza all by himself for launch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Dude! What the hell???”, Malia shouted, desperately trying to wipe the mess off her shoes. “Did you REALLY have to do it now???”</span></p><p> </p><p><span>The voices upstairs stopped. No doubt the two idiots up there had finally noticed the pack's arrival. No wonder, Malia had </span>just blown up their surprise.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The pack members started to throw nervous glances at each other, the realization of what seemed to be going on upstairs only now fully taking its place in their minds. Nobody dared to say a word.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So it were Liam's frantic footsteps coming upstairs that broke the tense silence. Judging by his irritated look and a tomato red face the blue eyed beta didn't seem to have expected any of them at all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Wh-what are you doing here?”, he stuttered, his face growing even redder now.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His question was greeted with more silence. It was Hayden who finally took pity on him then.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Um … Happy Birthday?”</span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Pleeease leave a comment if you have one, or leave a like, that would do it too. Because the likes and comments are literally keeping this story alive. Thank you :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Liam's Birthday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Poor Liam is embarassed. And Theo does some serious sh**. Also some angst here.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is THE longest chapter I've ever written. So enjoy and PLEASE please let me know what you think. Thank you everyone who let kudos and comments on this so far.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Happy Birthday? Happy Bir... Oh shit. So apparently Liam was still high on endorphins. Because yeah, those ten minutes with Theo upstairs had left the beta breathless and stupid. Not that he would complain about it. On contrary. He never felt so relaxed before. Well, that was until he heard all those noises and came running downstairs. Only to find out that apparently – judging by his pack's shocked faces and the faint smell of vomit – they have witnessed something that Liam intended to take to the grave with him. Because at that very minute he didn't trust even his own self anymore. I mean, <em>Theo? Really?</em> What was he even thinking?</p><p> </p><p>Now, this is really awkward.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing here?”, Liam repeated stupidly, his mind still feeling too numb to catch up with the situation.</p><p> </p><p>“Um”, Mason shifted awkwardly on one foot. “We came to surprise you ... Since ... it's your Birthday, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Oh ... OH. So THIS is why everyone was being so secretive today? It wasn't really nice by the way, Liam noted internally. How do they dare to behave like cold unresponsive assholes all day long, only to break into his home at the end and to actually ruin Liam's important activities (which was something that Liam DID enjoy by the way).</p><p> </p><p>“Well, surprise?”, the beta mocked somewhat aggressively. “I was having a good afternoon actually. Until you came and had to ruin it”. He knew it was harsh and unfair to react like this, but he was just SO DONE at the moment. He also still had to process what had just happened between him and Theo after all.</p><p> </p><p>Stiles snorted. “Oh, I don't doubt that”, he said derisively, shaking his head. “We've witnessed enough to detect that. Tell me, how is Theo doing? You didn't ruin him completely, did you? It sounded like a whole battle going on there”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam groaned pathetically. Why was he friends with Stiles again?</p><p> </p><p>As if on cue, Theo had chosen this very moment to come downstairs. Had he been listening the whole time?</p><p> </p><p>But judging by his bewildered expression he clearly hadn't. Or was pretending to be clueless. Who knows? It's Theo, after all.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera simply came to a stop once seeing the pack standing there and gaping at him now.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hi there”, he greeted, his tone and face nearly bored. “What did I miss?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Nothing! Nothing really!”, Mason replied hastily, putting on his best innocent look. Theo narrowed his eyes. He didn't believe him any second, of course.</p><p> </p><p>But the chimera couldn't stay suspicious any longer once he suddenly discovered what Mason was holding in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>“Oi, is this a cake? You are a SAINT, Mason.”, Theo grinned brightly and already reached enthusiastically for the cake that Jenna made Liam for his Birthday. And if it wasn't for Theo, Liam wouldn't have noticed it by himself, given his still dazed state of mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, GIVE it to me. I'm HUNGRY”, the chimera proceeded, literally licking his lips while greedily eyeing the cake.</p><p> </p><p>“What? No!”, Mason retorted, taking a cautious step back and shielding the cake protectively out from Theo's grabby hands.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera frowned. “Why?”</p><p> </p><p>Stiles raised an angry eyebrow. “Of fucking COURSE you wouldn't know that, would you? You're living with HIM in his house and even let him FUCK you, but don't know that today is his Birthday??”</p><p> </p><p>The room was silent for a moment, with all the pack staring awkwardly between Theo and Liam. And NOW the beta really wished the earth would swallow him down. Nothing new there. Cuz his life was just a freak show.</p><p> </p><p>But all the staring quickly ended with Theo just shrugging and turning to Liam instead. The beta huffed. The asshole really had the nerve to actually grin down at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Happy Birthday, Liam”, he just said. “If only I knew, I would have given you A HELL of a birthday. But I think my present wasn't that bad after all, considering I just gave my virginity to you”, he smirked evilly.</p><p> </p><p>Several chocking sounds could be heard.</p><p> </p><p>Scott actually looked like he was beginning to have a severe asthma attack.</p><p> </p><p>Stiles came up to help his Alpha, but tripped over his own feet and landed hard onto his own puke instead.</p><p> </p><p>Mason facepalmed himself, covering his face.</p><p> </p><p>Corey covered his boyfriend's ears in a protective manner and the both of them disappeared into thin air.</p><p> </p><p>Malia let out a malicious growl, no doubt reserved for non other than Theo.</p><p> </p><p>Lydia sighed heavily and turned her eyes up to the ceiling.</p><p> </p><p>Derek was just eyeing the scene before him, his eyebrows furrowed in bewildered confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Hayden let out a startled yelp and threw Liam a sympathetic look.</p><p> </p><p>And Liam ... Well, Liam was officially wishing he was dead now.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo”, he groaned, and realized he was actually very close to tears. “Please shut up, PLEASE”.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera in question threw him a bewildered look, which didn't look innocent at all. It reminded Liam of how good of an actor Theo really was. This ASSHOLE.</p><p> </p><p>“What? I didn't do anything. You can't blame me for the fact your precious pack can't handle the simple old truth.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, so you are the SAINT here, really now??”, Liam hissed, his anger rising.</p><p> </p><p>Theo just shrugged one more time, undisturbed. “Think what you want, BABE, but YOU were the one who jumped me first”.</p><p> </p><p>And now it was DEREK, of all people, who spit out whatever he was drinking at the moment. Oh fuck. FUCK. Now they broke Derek too. That was not good. Not good at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Not a single word from you anymore, THEODORE”, the beta spat, aggressively jabbing a shaking finger into the chimera's broad chest. “I suggest that you just leave, NOW”.</p><p> </p><p>And now Theo was actually POUTING. As though it was all LIAM's fault, UNBELIEVABLE.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine”, he retorted eventually, annoyed. And given any other situation, the beta would have found this handsome bitchy face kind of cute.</p><p> </p><p>Except there was nothing cute about Theo. Theo was just a pain in his ass and Liam was seriously beginning to consider to teach him a lesson by throwing him out of his home altogether.</p><p> </p><p>“Then go to your little girlfriend!”, he hissed. “Looks like you didn't get enough from me, so go on and continue whoring yourself out for the others!”</p><p> </p><p>Theo flashed his eyes. Clearly Liam's retort stung. Good.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what?”, he gritted through his teeth, his jaw clenched in anger. It was the first time since the Curse that Liam had seen such an expression on the chimera's face. “You're right. It WASN'T enough. You were just a quick cheap fuck to me”.</p><p> </p><p>And with that Theo quickly strode past him towards the door, shoving his shoulder hard on his way.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The pack stayed silent. They all were still proceeding everything that was happening now. Nobody even turned to face the chimera who was almost at the door now. They didn't dared so much as to breathe.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo never got to open the door. Because once he was about to open it, the doorbell rang suddenly.</p><p> </p><p>So Theo swung the door open, still seething with anger.</p><p> </p><p>The others turned to look who it was.</p><p> </p><p>Outside the door there were a few teenagers. Liam didn't need to face them to recognize who it was. It were some of Tessa's and Theo's so called friends. The jocks, remember? The one of them – the dark haired one – was wearing a brown leather jacket, ridiculously tight jeans with holes in them, and something that looked suspiciously like a party hat on his head. The blond one was wearing a tight black pullover and equally tight jeans. This one seemed more normal looking than the other. But again, so was Theo. Who turned out to be a murderous asshole, remember?</p><p> </p><p>The said chimera stopped short in his tracks, eyeing the newcomers with a bewildered expression on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Don? Riley? Who invited YOU now?”</p><p> </p><p>The dark haired one smirked smugly. Really, he could as well be Theo's brother. And Liam nearly felt sorry for the jock at this thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, well. Tessa just came home crying hot tears explaining that your little BOYFRIEND here had chased her away. You didn't even come after her. Instead, you stayed with HIM”, he smirked darkly, pointing past the chimera towards Liam. ”So I thought I'd come over here and see for whom you would be turning down my lovely irresistible sister.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo looked unimpressed though. “Listed, DON, it's really non of your business. So I suggest you leave now”, he said coldly.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh why would I do that now? I heard Dunbar here has Birthday today. I brought presents”, he grinned like a Cheshire cat, and shouldered himself into the room, ignoring Theo's protests.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy motherfucker”, Don whistled, looking around the living room. “You actually traded our luxury home for THIS? Don't be mad but ... this here looks like ... well ... a cabin or something. I guess you lowered your standards then.” Behind him, Riley let out a mocking snicker.</p><p> </p><p>And NOW you could EASILY tell Theo was seething. His face turning bright red, and a low growl could be heard.</p><p> </p><p>“Get. The. Hell. Out. NOW”, he hissed coldly. And Liam felt a certain pang of guilt for hating the chimera, because he hadn't expected the older boy to actually try to protect him in front of those assholes. But as soon as he thought that, Theo's most recent words towards him reminded the beta exactly why he hated the chimera. <em>You were just a quick cheap fuck to me</em>. Those words felt like a punch into his gut.</p><p> </p><p>Then he heard another growl. Malia.</p><p> </p><p>And her growls amused Don and his little fellow even further. “Ooh, aren't you a funny bunch of growling teenagers?”, he taunted. “All growls and no harm? I'm SO scared right now”.</p><p> </p><p>Then he suddenly stopped. “What is this smell?”, he grinned. “Someone couldn't hold down his liquor? Again, Raeken, I wonder how low your standards have gotten? You'd rather live here in this stinky hole?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo threw his arms in the air, aggressively.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm out of here”, he barked. “I wanted to go anyway”. And with that, he entered the exit and shut the door behind him. Leaving the pack to deal with those two morons here. How typically THEO.</p><p> </p><p>Don raised a mocking eyebrow and looked at Liam. “Wow, how NOBLE of your boyfriend. Leaving his bride all in distress”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam was seething himself now. “I'm NOT his boyfriend. This asshole can go and die for all I care!”, he spat.</p><p> </p><p>Don snorted. “Well, instead that HE just left YOU to die”.</p><p> </p><p>The room was silent once again. Everyone seemed to process just what Don was meaning by those words.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”, Mason finally ventured.</p><p> </p><p>Don grinned. “Oh, I guess he's lucky he got out of here on time. It can't be said for all of you though. Because – you see – we're HUNGRY”. And with that, his mouth opened wide, unmistakably showing sharp elongated teeth. At the same time, his eyes began to glow white.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh SHIT!”, Stiles yelled, and hid himself behind Malia, tugging helplessly on her sleeve. The coyote growled.</p><p> </p><p>“What ... What IS this thing??”, Liam panted, already backing away from the two creatures who were beginning to slowly creep towards the small group.</p><p> </p><p>“They are Wendigos”, Scott answered breathlessly, his eyes turning red.</p><p> </p><p>“So what are you waiting for?!”, Malia hissed, shifting. "Let's just KILL them already!"</p><p> </p><p>“We don't kill people, remember? There has to be another way!”</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, there was a startled yelp coming from Riley. Followed by a loud thud. Just a second later Don's head seemed to abruptly turn in a disturbingly unnatural and deadly angle and his eyes closed, black blood already rushing out of his nose and mouth in a rapid speed.</p><p> </p><p>All of that had happened so fast, that the pack didn't have time to realize what had happened at all.</p><p> </p><p>One second Don was attacking them, and the next his corpse was hitting the floor, falling beside the one of Riley. And on the spot behind the bodies stood non another than Theo Raeken himself.</p><p> </p><p>His eyes were not even glowing, and his claws weren't even out. He seemed to have murdered the two Wendigos just with his bare hands. Liam felt a shiver down his spine. Despite the fact that Theo had just rescued all of them, he was reminding him too much of the murderous psychopath he used to be at the moment. And it seemed there was no way back. The Theo he fell in love with was gone.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera looked bored. Too bored for someone who had just murdered in cold blood, still standing beside his victims.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”, he asked. His tone didn't even hold any real emotion. Maybe confusion. Only confusion.</p><p> </p><p>The pack gaped at him.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, it was Lydia who spoke. For the very first time this afternoon.</p><p> </p><p>“You ... You murdered them. Why did you do that? We could have found another way?”, she said, shell-shocked.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera raised his eyebrow, already exasperated. “Oh yeah? How about 'Thank you, Theo, for saving our pathetic lives'?”</p><p> </p><p>At that, Stiles suddenly let out a short hysterical laugh. “Are you HEARING yourself right now? We could have handled it ourselves, there are WEREWOLVES here, for fuck's sake. But you wouldn't miss ANY opportunity to go and murder people, would you?”</p><p>The silence that followed was deafening more than ever. The tension in the room seemed to explode at any second now.</p><p> </p><p>It was only broken by quite sobs. It was Liam. The beta was crying.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn't help it. He didn't want to appear weak in front of his pack. Especially in front of Theo. But all the shock and embarrassment seemed to finally have pushed him towards the very edge. So he broke down. And now there seemed to be no end to that.</p><p> </p><p>As the beta broke down, he felt his anger rising. Anger and grief. The grief for his friend Theo. Only now had he realized that the Theo he knew and loved was taken away from him all those months ago. He didn't know it then. And now he was crying for his lost friend way too late.</p><p> </p><p>He was so blind with his rage that he didn't realize he'd hit the wall with his fist. He only noticed this as a burning pain shoot through him, causing him to wail out in agony once he registered it. Shaking, the beta slowly brought the fist to his face to look at it properly. It was covered in blood, the skin around the knuckles torn and shattered. He didn't care though. A sudden idea flashing through his mind.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo”, he breathed out through his tears. “Come here, please”.</p><p> </p><p>The pack didn't dare to say a word, scared and intrigued by what was going on.</p><p> </p><p>Theo surprised him by following though.</p><p> </p><p>“What now, Dunbar?”, he asked quietly, positioning himself in front of the beta.</p><p> </p><p>Liam looked into the chimera's cold eyes. Into his unreadable face. Praying that what he had in mind would work. He wasn't sure what he would do if it didn't work. God help him.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking, he held out his bleeding hand towards Theo. The chimera eyed it, his expressionless face giving way to confusion now.</p><p> </p><p>“I want you to take my pain, PLEASE”, Liam sobbed, closing his eyes. There. That was the moment of truth.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Liam – what do you mean? I don't know how. I – I never did it before.”, Theo was already shaking his head. Liam felt even more tears streaming down his face. Why couldn't Theo remember? Unless ... unless this damn witch had stripped him of every single memory that made the chimera human.</p><p> </p><p>“H-how can't you remember?”, the beta sobbed. “Don't you remember how we fought together? The hunters were shooting, and we beat them. Together. And there was Gabe. He was shot. You took his pain before he died”</p><p> </p><p>But Theo just continued shaking his head. “Dunbar, I don't know what you're playing at here, but I don't remember such a thing. Yes, I remember us fighting the hunters, but taking someone's pain isn't one of my specialties”, he snorted. And Liam felt dead inside now.</p><p> </p><p>“Just ... Just try, ok? Just take my hand and fucking TRY!”, he whispered, resigned.</p><p> </p><p>So Theo hesitantly took his throbbing hand into his own. Liam closed his eyes. He wasn't going to witness that he was wrong. That Theo indeed didn't care....</p><p> </p><p>... He was not wrong. Because after long moments of waiting he didn't feel any change. His hand was still throbbing. And Theo was shaking with silent laughter now. <em>What the fuck??</em></p><p> </p><p>“You know what, Dunbar?”, he snorted. “I really don't know what's going on here, or what sentimental crisis you're having here, but I'm not playing this game”. With that, he let go of Liam's hand and stood up. On his way to the entrance door he threw a fleeting glance at the two corpses of Wendigos still lying there on the floor and said dismissively “I suggest you take care of this, they're gonna stink up this lovely home pretty soon”.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Liam's heart sank. No, no, no, no, NO! Theo couldn't leave him. Not like that! He really needed to stop him from going. So the only last thing he could think of now was ...</p><p> </p><p>“You were cursed!”, he called after Theo.</p><p> </p><p>He barely registered Scott's hissed “Liam, NO!”. All he was focused on now was Theo's reaction.</p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, the chimera stopped in his tracks, slowly turning back to Liam.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”, he croaked, unsure now.</p><p> </p><p>Liam swallowed, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to tell him.</p><p> </p><p>“You ... You were CURSED, Theo. A few months ago we were hunting down a witch. We stumbled upon her in the woods, and I kind of made her angry. You tried to step up for me, but the situation got quickly out of hand. When you refused to admit that you killed in the past, she got mad and threw a curse on you. From that day on, you weren't the same. You stopped to CARE.”, he whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Theo's heart began to beat faster and faster now. Liam frowned. Was the chimera beginning to remember?</p><p> </p><p>But a quick look at the older boy's face told Liam another story. No, it wasn't the sign of remembering. It was the sign of Theo getting angry. REALLY angry now.</p><p> </p><p>“AND YOU TELL ME THIS ONLY NOW???!”, he road, manically looking around the pack. “IS THIS WHY YOU LOOK AT ME AS THOUGH I KILLED YOUR FAVORITE PUPPY??!”. He laughed then, loud and hysterical. “OH I GET IT NOW! Here I was thinking we were actually past all of this, and that you actually have FORGIVEN me, but instead, you all are treating me like the enemy again??!! Well guess what? I definitely CAN be your enemy, if you really want me to. Oh, I can be your WORST NIGHTMARE!”. And he was DEFENITELY looking like the pre-hell Theo now. Liam felt a great chill running down his spine once again. A quick look at his poor pack told him they were feeling quite the same. Hayden looked TERRIFIED even. Being Theo's ex-beta she surely knew how dangerous the old Theo could be.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly there was something insane in Theo's eyes. And it was directed towards Liam. The beta barely had time to register what it was before he was violently hauled up and pinned against the wall, the chimera's arm pressed tightly against his Adam's apple, causing him to gag slightly.</p><p> </p><p>“And YOU!”, Theo sneered derisively, nearly spitting into Liam's face. “I bet you KNEW you could just fuck me like you fucked me tonight, right? Rough, without any consequences! Because I'm NOT the Theo that I was, right? The Theo that you preferred me to be? So what, you thought you could just take advantage of me because I'm an ANIMAL or something?! Because you don't feel guilty about what you do to me or with me?! I bet you wouldn't have the nerve to just fuck me senseless if I was that guy who CARED. Oh no, mister, I bet you would be wrapping your pretty head about how to approach that guy and voice out what you want so that you don't hurt his damn FEELINGS, right?! AM I RIGHT??!!”</p><p> </p><p>Liam trembled beneath his arms. Partly out of fear, and partly out of the cruel truth behind those words. Yes, he took advantage of Theo's state. He hasn't thought of what the chimera wanted, he only thought about what he HIMSELF wanted at that time. Because this careless, heartless Theo didn't deserve to be treated like a human with rights. So maybe it was Liam himself who was being heartless after all.</p><p> </p><p>But still there was something else ...</p><p> </p><p>“YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I FUCKED YOU??!”, he roared, seeing red. “BECAUSE YOU FUCKING MANIPULATED ME INTO THAT; REMEMBER??!!!”</p><p> </p><p>At that Theo snarled, his teeth elongating. “Don't you dare say a word anymore, you worthless piece of sh-”</p><p> </p><p>WHUMMM!!! Theo's body hit the floor loudly and the room went suddenly very silent. Except for Stiles' heavy panting, who was still standing there with a frying pan he apparently just hit Theo's head with.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my God”, Lydia groaned quietly and ran over to the unconscious chimera, quickly checking his pulse. It was weak, but it was there. “Help me get him into a chair”, she barked out.</p><p> </p><p>Once the pack was done with Theo, the chimera was successfully sitting in a tall wooden chair, his arms and legs bound to it securely. The pack stood back and eyed their captive warily.</p><p> </p><p>“What now?”, Malia asked harshly.</p><p> </p><p>As if on cue, the doorbell rang the second time this evening. In the doorway stood a girl, maybe in her early twenties.</p><p> </p><p>“Um, is this the house of Liam Dunbar?”, she asked, warily eyeing the pack. “I'm Marie, a member of the Firewood Coven and a friend of Deaton's. He said you have a problem here?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So how do you like it so far?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Somebody Help Me!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So the witch Deaton has contacted finally arrives. Is Theo gonna get the help he needs?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hm, I'm really productive this weekend. Enjoy the new chapter! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Upon seeing Marie all members of the pack – Liam included – let out a collective sigh of relief. FINALLY! It took Deaton long enough to get help before everything escalated. It almost did. They all knew that given Theo's current state he would be a ticking time bomb.</p><p> </p><p>As if on cue the chimera let out a low groan, dizzily stirring in his ropes. He was waking up. They needed to act fast.</p><p> </p><p>Noticing the bound chimera Marie was already making her way towards the boy.</p><p> </p><p>“So that's our problem, huh?”, she mused, curiously studying Theo.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah”, Scott sighed heavily. “That's Theo. He has been cursed. And now – for quite a long while actually – he is not being himself.” He didn't offer any other information though.</p><p> </p><p>Marie raised her eyebrows. “Hm. Let's see what we're dealing with here”</p><p> </p><p>With that, she gently placed her hands on both sides of the chimera's head. The pack held their breaths.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly the young witch's eyes clouded with a white mist and she drew a sharp breath, her hands shaking slightly. No doubt was she looking into Theo's mind right now.</p><p> </p><p>They all have been standing there for a while. After several very long minutes Marie finally released Theo's head, taking a big step back.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh boy”, she shook her head, pitifully eyeing the chimera. “He's really gone right now. His mind is literally a mess. So much pain, so much confusion. Something isn't right, a certain chunk of his memories is missing. Something essential.”</p><p> </p><p>Scott nodded. They have been right all along.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we've figured that out already. You see, there had been a time where he was this .. cold blooded version of himself. He used to be a murderer. He wasn't capable of caring about the others. But then we kind of send him to a supernatural prison, where his walls broke, I guess. He had learned to care. But the witch who cursed him a while ago apparently erased those memories of his personal hell, and now he's right back to his murderous himself”</p><p> </p><p>Marie studied Scott, before nodding. “The good news is that I can lift the curse”, she told him then, already recognizing Scott as the Alpha of the pack. “The bad is that the only way to lift it is by reversing it. Means, there's a certain risk of reversing some of Theo's development altogether.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam was confused. “What do you mean?”, he asked, already dreading the worst.</p><p> </p><p>“Well”, the witch sighed, “It means that it's possible some of Theo's memories from after the Curse could be erased, since it's the reversal. But it could also affect him in different ways too. It could be literally anything.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam still didn't understand. “But ... The loss of his memories after the Curse wouldn't really be a bad thing. I mean, he killed two more people tonight”. <em>Not to mention I literally fucked him against the door which I'm really not proud about</em>, he thought to himself bitterly. That was DEFINITELY something he wasn't proud of. I mean, sure, Theo kind of manipulated him into it, but it still didn't give him any right to fuck him the way he did. He had just been so angry back then ...</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly they heard a loud dangerous growl. It was coming from non other than Theo himself. Liam looked at the chimera. He had finally woken up and was sneering at the pack – and Marie – with a hateful look in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You really think you all are SO noble, don't you?”, he spat, seething. “Who the hell gave you ANY RIGHT to mess up with my head and my being?!”. He looked directly at Marie then. <em>If looks could kill</em>. “You're NOT going to do any reversal shit to me, you bitch! And if you try, I'm going to find you and kill you like I did to the others. I won't even HESITATE, you hear?”, he finished, smirking in a way that send chills down Liam's spine once again. He could swear that the longer Theo was staying like this, the more sinister he became.</p><p> </p><p>But despite her young age Marie didn't even blink. Clearly she had seen much worse things in her life already, than a threatening teenager in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>“Hold him down”, she ordered coolly instead. “This is really going to be unpleasant”</p><p> </p><p>The pack exchanged some worried looks, but complied. They all knew they didn't really have a choice. Unless they wanted to send Theo back to hell, they really had to break the curse – for Theo's AND their own sake. And for the sake of all the people Theo might be killing in the future.</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing Marie's order Theo widened his eyes and began to struggle violently in his ropes. But the ropes didn't bulge. The pack had made sure to soak them in wolfsbane before restraining Theo a while ago.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, Theo”, Marie said in a controlled and soothing voice, gently placing her hands on the struggling chimera's temples once again. “I'm gonna be really careful, so everything is going to be fine”</p><p> </p><p>Theo looked like he really wanted to bite off her hands now. If only he could.</p><p> </p><p>But he couldn't. Not only was he restrained by ropes, but now also being held by Scott and Liam.</p><p> </p><p>“You need to hold him really still”, Marie warned the two werewolves. “I'm gonna access his mind once again and gonna lift the curse”</p><p> </p><p>Scott nodded, panting under the chimera's struggles. “I hope you know what you're doing”.</p><p> </p><p>Marie smiled slightly. “I hope so too”. With that, her eyes clouded white again and after a while she began to chant in Latin.</p><p> </p><p>As she chanted, Theo's struggled finally began to cease. A low moan escaping the chimera. Liam breathed out in hopeful relief. So it was working at least, wasn't it?</p><p> </p><p>But the beta's relief was short-lived. Because almost immediately after Marie finally released Theo's head, the older boy suddenly began to convulse in pain. Actually, judging by his loud screams and tears, that now started to uncontrollably stream down his face, the chimera was in AGONY.</p><p> </p><p>He was so clearly gone that he couldn't even form any words, only loud wails leaving his throat.</p><p> </p><p>Liam gaped at the convulsing boy in horror, the cold shiver of dread sipping through his veins. He threw Marie a panicked and helpless look. “W-what is happening to him?!”</p><p> </p><p>But Marie didn't look very reassuring herself. “I ... I really don't know. This reaction is strange, that shouldn't be happening. I think, he's trying to fight off the reversal”</p><p> </p><p>“What?! I TRUSTED you!”, Liam roared. “WE trusted you”.</p><p> </p><p>But Scott was quick enough to stop Liam from attacking Marie. “Dude, what the hell?!”, he hissed. “She's just trying to help, and we really don't know anything for sure yet. It still could be working!”</p><p> </p><p>Liam stared at his Alpha in disbelief. “<em>It still could be working?!!</em> Just LOOK at him, Scott!”, he shouted, pointing at the chimera with a shaking finger. “Theo looks like he's fucking DYING!”. The beta was real close to tears now. A second time this evening actually.</p><p> </p><p>But suddenly Theo grew quite. Too quite, his body sagging loosely into the back of the chair. If anything, it only increased Liam's panic. <em>Please don't be dead, please don't be dead</em>, he repeated in his mind over and over again, while already running towards the other to check his pulse.</p><p> </p><p>With shaking fingers the beta reached for Theo's neck, feeling his pulse. It was there, and it was stable enough for Liam to let out a breath of great relief.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok”, he nodded to himself, collecting his thoughts, “What now?”, he looked at Marie.</p><p> </p><p>Marie swallowed. The amount of protectiveness this blue-eyed angry boy apparently held for Theo had left her impressed and scared at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>“I guess we'll have to wait now”, she said gently. “Theo's mind needs time to reform”</p><p> </p><p>Liam threw her a determined look. “How long?”</p><p> </p><p>Marie nodded. “As long as it takes. It could be a couple hours or even a couple days.”. Liam snorted, unamused. He was SO done with everything.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>After everything that happened today no one in the pack could sleep. They didn't even try. Instead, they all decided to stay in Liam's house to supervise the chimera and wait until he woke up. Liam wasn't really sure if it was because they wanted to make sure Theo was ok, or whether it was to make sure he didn't attack or kill anyone else in case he was still the old psychopath self. Still, the beta was really grateful for the pack's support. It was the best and the only Birthday present he needed at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Theo was placed on the couch where the pack could easily see him in case he woke up. They decided to watch some TV and also maybe to play some board games. As the evening went on and eventually turned into night (with Liam's step-dad thankfully still at work, after texting him he would be staying there all night because of an emergency case), they all were getting restless. Marie was also still there. She wasn't as bad as Liam thought she was, and he felt guilty now for shouting at her earlier. Still, they needed Theo to wake up. Because the longer they waited the thicker the tension in the room grew. After all, they were still having doubts at what was awaiting them once he did. Or whether the chimera would wake up at all.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Please”</em>, the said chimera suddenly whisper-moaned. His voice was still hoarse from all the screaming earlier.</p><p> </p><p>The pack all but ran to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo??”, Liam breathed out, shaking. “Can you hear me?”</p><p> </p><p>But Theo clearly couldn't, his face suddenly twisting in pain once again. “<em>Please don't do this, Tara. PLEASE!</em>”, he sobbed.</p><p> </p><p>And OH. What the hell?</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, I don't think you should disturb him now”, Marie said slowly. “He's reliving his memories. It might be the ones he's lost”</p><p> </p><p>The pack nodded. It clearly had something to do with Tara. And pain and Tara in one sentence could only mean Hell.</p><p> </p><p>But then again, Liam wasn't so sure what had happened to Theo in hell. He still didn't really know. And he was ashamed of his own ignorance. Some friend he was. The beta swore to himself to change that once the chimera woke up.</p><p> </p><p>Just as he tried to reach out for Theo in a comforting manner, the boy began to shake. Fresh tears were streaming down his face once again.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo!”, Liam panicked, and hastily reached for the chimera's hand. Only to find thick black veins already making its way up his arms. Blinding pain shot through his own body and he gasped.</p><p> </p><p>“NO!”, Marie suddenly said. “Don't interrupt the process. He needs to do this on his own. He needs to remember. Any disturbance can lead to unwanted results, let alone damage.”</p><p> </p><p>Hesitantly Liam drew his hand back, looking at the crying chimera. And once again, he found himself crying with him.</p><p> </p><p>“How long?”, he croaked out. “How long does he have to endure it?”</p><p> </p><p>Marie sighed. “As I've told you before, maybe some more hours. I just hope it won't be days. But theoretically, he should wake up once he accepts his memories. He must accept this something that happened to him and transformed him into the caring person he was”, she threw the pack a meaningful look.</p><p> </p><p>Liam breathed out. So it was all up to Theo now.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So what do you think?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. What Do We Do With The Bodies?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For those of you who wondered what the hell had happened to the bodies, here is your answer in this chapter. It's not like they just forgot about the bodies randomly lying there and just sat down and watched TV while waiting for Theo to wake up, right? LOL. I guess I've forgotten to write the getting-rid-of-the-bodies part in the last chapter. Oops. Also, we gonna learn something here. As always. Enjoy!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>YEY I'm back :P. Please like and comment as ever, even if this chapter is slightly shorter than usually. But I just felt like cutting it right there. Let's give all the love and support for our poor Theo. And Liam of course.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>A few hours earlier:</em>
</p><p> </p><p>„Oh my God“, Liam groaned, <span>observing the two bodies that were still lying on the floor warily. “W-what are we gonna do with them? There's s-so much blood … Mom is gonna kill me!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scott walked up to the beta and touched his shoulder reassuringly. “It's gonna be ok, Liam. We gonna clean everything up. Your only worry should be Theo right now”, he nodded towards the panting chimera, who had recently been placed on the sofa and was now lying there stiffly, lost in his own nightmares.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded, his shoulders shaking slightly due to the aftermath of everything that just happened. He REALLY hadn't expected his Birthday to turn out like this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>I can help”, Marie said suddenly, walking towards the bodies. “I'm powerful enough to make them disappear. This way you won't have to deal with the bodies, trust me”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam nodded grateful. “Just take care of it, please”, he whispered, tears of exhaustion coming to the surface now. He was grateful for every help and support he could get now. It was HIS house for God's sake, so everything happening here was his responsibility. But currently he was feeling completely helpless, not having control over anything anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>What exactly are you planning to do?”, Scott eyed the witch skeptically.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marie bit her lower lip, thinking of an explanation. “Well”, she sighed. “I'm gonna put a spell over the bodies to literally make them disappear into thin air. The effect of the spell also includes all the people who ever came into contact with those two forgetting about their existence completely. It's irreversible.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scott frowned, considering this. “What about us though?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>Marie nodded. “Unfortunately, you won't be able to forget about it. The spell only impacts those who've met them while they were </span>still alive. You, however, have witnessed them in their death already. I'm sorry”</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Oh, don't be”, Stiles suddenly appeared behind Scott. “It's not a bad thing we won't forget about it at all. Because this way, we also won't forget about what a monster Theo really is! You never can be careful enough when this freak is around, I've learned it the hard way.”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon hearing those words, Liam's anger began to rise rapidly. He clenched his fists tightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>You take it back, NOW!”, he hissed through gritted teeth, shooting daggers at Stiles.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Stiles – this bastard – just sarcastically raised his eyebrows, shooting Liam a heated glare of his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Why the hell should I DO that?!”, he deadpanned. “You've seen it all yourself how clearly he hasn't changed at all. One funny little curse, and he turns immediately back to his old murderous self!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam growled, his eyes flashing in warning now. “You don't know Theo AT ALL. You HAVEN'T been living with him as I did, so DON'T you dare making any stupid assumptions now, only because you like playing Sherlock Holmes!”, he spat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their heated argument was quickly interrupted by Marie then, who pointedly cleared her throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>So what is it gonna be?”, she asked, eyeing the two of them with slight exasperation. “Should I perform the spell now or not?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam was panting now, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He quickly made a mental note to never get into an argument with Stiles ever again. Especially about things concerning a certain chimera. He just had to ignore him. Yep, this was what he was gonna do in the future. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Yes, please”, he finally sighed, looking at Marie. “I REALLY want the bodies gone”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a short nod the young woman sank to her knees and put each of her hands slightly above each of the bodies. She spoke out a spell, and suddenly there was a short flash of bright purple light. The pack watched in astonishment then, as the two bodies began to gradually disappear in two soft looking clouds of golden flames.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a slight whoosh of air the bodies were finally gone. Even the whole blood wasn't there anymore. It was as though they never even existed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>There you go”, Marie smiled, rising from her knees. “From now on nobody is going to remember them”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam was overwhelmed. To a point where he just swung his arms around Marie pulling her into a tight hug. So one problem was down now at least.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>****</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So this is where they were now, all of the pack members sitting quietly in the seats surrounding the sofa with Theo lying on it. Throwing him occasional or – in Stiles' and Malia's case – hateful looks towards the chimera. Pretending not to hear his sobs and painful grunts and trying to focus on whatever movie was currently running on the TV.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Oh can someone shut him up PLEASE??”, Stiles suddenly exclaimed, after hearing a particularly loud shout of pain coming from the chimera. “I'm trying to concentrate on the movie here!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam sneered at him for that. “If you can't listen to it anymore, then just GO. Clearly you care about this movie much more than about Theo's well-being! Why are you here again??”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stiles smirked darkly. “Oh and what about YOU, Liam? Why are YOU staying here and not just going to bed already? Clearly, because your precious Theo has somehow managed to wrap you around his finger now. What exactly has it been, huh? He lets you fuck him once and suddenly you're his love slave now or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After hearing THIS, Liam couldn't hold his anger back anymore. He simply swung his arm and punched Stiles in the face. Stiles groaned in pain, not expecting it coming. Good.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Guys, WHAT THE HELL?!”, Scott roared in his Alpha voice. His face was a mixture of rage and confusion. Just as he opened his mouth to say more, the doorbell rang. AGAIN. What NOW???</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With an audible click Scott snapped his mouth shut. “I'll go get it”, he said quietly, all anger giving way to confusion now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <span>Once the Alpha opened the door, he was faced with a pretty red-haired girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Hi”, she greeted, smiling shyly. “I … um … I didn't know Theo had friends over here. Can I – can I talk to him for a second?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam frowned, standing up from the sofa and walking up to Scott to stand beside him. What the hell was SHE even doing here now??</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>What do you want, Tessa?”, he asked coldly, his arms crossing in front of his chest. “You know it's past midnight, right? Besides of that, Theo is sleeping already”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A flicker of confusion flashed briefly across Tessa's face, before her expression took the one of disappointment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Oh”, she bit her lip slightly. “I'm sorry, I haven't thought about this. But I think YOU could help me”, she continued, looking at Liam in expectation. </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The beta rolled his eyes, exasperated. He really wasn't ready to be having a chat with Theo's annoying girlfriend. But the quicker he told her whatever she wanted to know, the quicker he would get rid of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Sure”, he smiled falsely. “What can I do for you?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl bit her lip more aggressively now. <em>Just what the hell was her deal here??</em>  “I .. uh … After you chased me away, I ran to my brother and told him everything. I know it was a childish thing to do, but I just was so upset … So he got angry with you and said he'd pay you a visit tonight. I've been waiting for him for three hours now, but he never came back. Had he been here at all? I'm really worried!”, she finished shakily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Almost immediately the beta felt a slight pang of guilt in his chest. This girl was worried about her family, and he was just rudely assuming she wanted something from Theo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>I'm sorry, but I don't even know who your brother ...”. But as soon as those words left his lips, he frowned in confusion. Wasn't this coward Don talking about his sister and how Liam had chased her away? This sudden realization downed on him, making him back away slightly. <em>Oh shit</em>. She doesn't know her brother is dead. He immediately began to panic. <em>What do I do now, what do I do??</em></span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon seeing his hesitation and the expression of horror that was undoubtedly written all over his face now, Tessa all but pushed past him into the room like she owned it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>I KNOW he visited you tonight! I can tell it by your reaction. What the hell have you done to him??!”. Oh oh, she clearly was getting angry now. Liam really didn't know what to answer.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>I d-dont know wh-what you're talking a-”</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>STAY BACK!”, someone suddenly shouted. Astonished, Liam turned around to see it was Marie, standing there in the middle of the room and glaring at Tessa now.</span></p><p> </p><p>“<span>Please stay back. She's dangerous!”, the young woman said in a calmer tone now.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Liam was at a loss of words now. “Wh-what?”, he croaked, bewildered. This night was getting weirder and weirder now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon seeing his – and the others' confusion – Marie explained in a tense tone, her eyes never living Tessa, whose face was currently unreadable: </span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>The spell I put upon the bodies, impacts only those who've witnessed the victim in its life, remember? Given to the fact, that this young lady here wasn't there to witness them in their death, there is NO way she'd be able to remember her brother. So the only question now is: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”, she glared at the girl.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a short moment of silence. Then suddenly, Tessa's blank face expression gave way to a cruel humorous smirk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>You really don't recognize me, <em>sister</em>?”, she purred. </span></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Revealing Truths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The witches have a talk. Things are getting revealed. Questions are getting cleared up. And something else happens too.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi! I wanted to thank everyone who left Kudos and comments on the last chapter! I really appreciated the feedback - I always do. So feel free to give more of that - it really inspires me :) So now I'm giving you an extra long chapter in return. I'm curious what you think about THIS one. Enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The silence in the room was deafening. Everyone seemed to proceed what they just heard. Hell, nobody even knew what exactly was happening here. One moment there was this more or less innocent looking girl standing before them, and one minute later she was wearing this creepy smirk on her face and calling Marie her SISTER?? So all the pack could do was standing there and gaping at the two of the woman. It obviously seemed to be a personal thing between the two of them.</p><p> </p><p>But Marie wasn't doing any better. For several minutes she was just standing there, her eyebrows furrowed into a thin line and thousand fleeting emotions flickering through her gray eyes. Then, they widened in realization, and she was already hectically muttering something under her breath.</p><p> </p><p>“Reveal yourself!”, she finally called, with a gesture sending a quick flash of light towards Tessa.</p><p> </p><p>The other girl looked stunned for a second, not expecting the spell. Then, her facial features slowly began to shift and morph into another face. Thirty seconds later there was not Tessa, but a woman in her thirties standing before the pack. She still wore the same clothes, but she looked different. Her long dark hair falling loosely into her face. With a gasp of panic Liam realized that was the witch whom he and Theo had met in the forest. A sudden flash of boiling hot anger began to rise in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“YOU!”, he sneered, already going to attack her. “YOU did it to him!”</p><p> </p><p>But the witch didn't seem to be impressed at all. She just dismissively moved her hand in the beta's direction, barely sparing him a glance. Immediately Liam felt himself flying into the opposite wall. He hit the wall with a shuddering force, moaning and curling into a ball.</p><p> </p><p>The witch smirked, already directing her gaze back on Marie.</p><p> </p><p>“So, where were we?”, she asked mockingly.</p><p> </p><p>Marie blew out a shaky breath, trying to compose herself mentally.</p><p> </p><p>“Eva?”, she asked weakly, seemingly not trusting her own voice. “H-how?”</p><p> </p><p>The witch's smirk grew only wider at that.</p><p> </p><p>“It's been ten long years … You've certainly grown up, little sister”, she purred, clearly enjoying the situation. “I have to admit I never believed I'd see you again”</p><p> </p><p>Marie's eyes began to water. “I … I th-thought you were dead … They never spoke of you. They just said you were DEAD!”, she stuttered, her voice getting more desperate with each passing second. Her face was contorted in pain now. In pain of what seemed to be some long lost memories.</p><p> </p><p>Eva's face, however, softened up now. She clearly didn't like seeing her sister in distress.</p><p> </p><p>“I've never been gone”, she told her quietly. “I've always been nearby, here and there, hiding”.</p><p> </p><p>Marie swallowed, taking a step back now. “The only times they ever talked about you was only to tell me that you used to be dangerous. A traitor. Is it – is it true?”</p><p> </p><p>Eva smirked bitterly at that, her upper lip curling in distaste.</p><p> </p><p>“Of COURSE they would say it!”, she snapped, her anger rising now. “They always considered themselves better, nobble, mighty witches of Firewood Coven! They just wanted to believe it, they just wanted to see something that would make them feel better than me!”</p><p> </p><p>Marie shook her head. “I don't even know WHAT they believe. What the hell happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Eva's lips stretched into a thin line. “As you wish”, she said flatly, and began to slowly walk from one side to the other across the room like she owned it. “I was in my twenties. Still young and stupid. And in <em>love</em>.”, she laughed humorously. “Oh yes, young love … So stupid. So dangerous. He was a young human, and we were planning our future together. The Coven didn't approve it of course. They were SO proud to be pure blooded witches that they also wanted a pure blooded line. You know how it is”, she rolled her eyes dismissively. “So they all began to push me away. Said I wasn't worth to be a member of the Great Firewood Coven. So I left. And was determined to go away with my love instead”. She then gave an ugly sneer, obviously recalling the past. “But it turned out my human lover was not only a liar but also a lustful and greedy man. I was SO sure he loved me with all of his heart, but it turned out he'd only been with me because he wanted POWER. The power of magic and my knowledge of that”. She paused then.</p><p> </p><p>Marie – and the others – were gaping at her now. Nobody was expecting this kind of story from her.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened <em>then</em>?”, Marie asked quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Eva sighed heavily, her eyes glazing over, lost in her own memories. “One night he didn't return home. I've been waiting for him until the black of the night, but he wouldn't return. The night was a stormy one, and I figured that maybe something had happened to him. So I went to look for him. Something was telling me to go search in the woods. I did. And then I heard screams and saw the bright light of fire.”, her voice began shaking now. “When I came closer, there were a dozen of other witches of the Coven standing there. They were bound onto a dozen nearby trees and they all were BURNING! The fire was eating away their clothes and crawling up their bodies like a snake. Nobody was left alive”, Eva whispered shakily. “And nearby there stood Antonio, my lover. He was laughing and summoning up the Satan! I'll never forget his crazed look, the look of lust and sick admiration, as he was calling out to the Satan! Then, after the cries of witches died down, there suddenly was a bright powerful flash of lighting, and it hit him in the chest. I screamed out of fear and he heard me then. He sent a spell into my direction and suddenly I couldn't move! All I could do was just lying there, crying. That's when I knew the Ritual had worked, giving Antonio the powers of a Warlock with Satan's help. He'd gotten his powers by the practice of the most powerful dark magic!”</p><p> </p><p>Eva drew a shaky breath then, slowly finishing her story. “In the morning the rest of the coven had found me. They accused me of murdering 12 witches! They just assumed I did it out of revenge because of them pushing me away. I tried to tell them it wasn't me but Antonio, but they didn't believe me! So I was sentenced to death. But I was able to flee in the end”, she finished.</p><p> </p><p>The room was quiet once again. Nobody knew what to think out of that. They had assumed Eva was evil from the beginning on, but her story clearly showed her as a victim. Should they believe her? Nobody knew.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine”, Liam said then, finally managing to come up to his feet. He was praying she wouldn't send him against the wall again. Or worse. “Let's say we believe your story. But that still doesn't explain why you would curse THEO of all people!”</p><p> </p><p>The witch laughed then mockingly, looking at the beta like he was an idiot.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh you don't GET it, do you? If anything I've learned from the whole incident with Antonio was that all men are traitors and MURDERERS! So when your friend had refused to consciously acknowledge that he, indeed, had killed people, I cursed him to make him remember his TRUE nature – the one of a killer. This way he would kill people again, and I was sure you all would make him SUFFER for that. This would be something he actually DESERVES. The pain of being shut out. The pain of being considered as an enemy. Because you see - the REAL pain is the EMOTIONAL pain... But guess what? Never would I ever have guessed that THEO wasn't being punished but was ASLEEP instead. I came here to make sure you already have figured out his proper punishment, but no! Not even after he killed two Wendigos who actually used to be two random teenagers first!”</p><p> </p><p>Scott gasped at that. “Wait”, he said, “How do you even know about Wendigos?”</p><p> </p><p>Eva snorted dismissively. “Oh PLEASE”, she said. “I'm a powerful witch, do you really think it would be a problem for me to create Wendigos? All I had to do yesterday, was to brew a special drink that I gave to this pathetic douchebag Don and his little friend, and that had turned them into monsters overnight”, she grinned evilly. “It's a shame, really. Here I thought it was a brilliant idea of mine to send them back to Theo's house, so he'd kill them, but here he is just sleeping peacefully”, she pouted.</p><p> </p><p>Stiles chuckled dryly. “Oh, he did kill them”, he said. “But then he also had tried to attack US, so we had to knock him out”. He gestured to the couch with Theo on it then. Liam groaned inwardly. Eva wasn't supposed to see him! She was DANGEROUS!</p><p> </p><p>But it was already too late. Upon seeing the still unconscious chimera the witch's eyes already took on a crazed glint of joy. <em>Not good</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my!”, she gasped, grinning disturbingly. “How have I not noticed him yet? You know that I have to finish the job for you now, right?”, she asked mockingly.</p><p> </p><p>Liam gasped. “Wait, what?! You are NOT gonna kill him or something!”</p><p> </p><p>Eva smirked. “Well, I actually do. This man is a murderer, he must be eliminated”</p><p> </p><p>But the beta shook his head, already preparing himself for a second attack. “But he is your BOYFRIEND, for fuck's sake! You have been dating him for <em>weeks</em> now!”</p><p> </p><p>Eva paused, raising an amused eyebrow. Then she began to laugh hard.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>“<em>My boyfriend?!</em>”, she gasped between laughs. “MY boyfriend? Oh PLEASE! No offense, but he REALLY isn't my type. I've often wondered what that silly girl Tessa had found in Theo though”, she added thoughtfully.</p><p> </p><p>The pack looked REALLY confused now.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean about 'that girl Tessa'”?, Liam asked then, not understanding the world anymore. “I thought YOU were Tessa? Just taking on a different appearance and a different name or something?”</p><p> </p><p>Eva giggled evilly. “Oh my poor naïve boy. This isn't how magic works. Currently Tessa is sleeping deep inside this beautiful head”, she tapped on her own temple. “So her body is all mine to use”. With that Eva morphed into Tessa's appearance once again.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>The pack was at a lost of words. Here they had been considering Theo's girlfriend to be a witch, but it turned out Tessa was <em>innocent</em> after all??</p><p> </p><p>“I – I don't understand”, Liam finally stuttered, frowning. “Are you saying you got Tessa<em> possessed</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Eva clicked with her tongue in approval. “Oh yes, I have indeed. After I cursed the little Theo over there, I've always been nearby. Just waiting, observing. Just imagine my delight as I've learned about a certain new girl coming to Beacon High. So I wanted to see it for myself. And judging by what I saw, I instantly KNEW Tessa would catch Theo's attention. With her looks? That was guaranteed. That was just convenient, 'cause I wanted to be even closer to Theo. So I could watch him digging his own hole more and more... So one night I came to Tessa in her sleep, and managed to convince her to let me into her mind and body. She let me. You know how irrational dreams can be. You don't actually think properly in those. And so the poor silly girl doesn't even suspect I'm using her body, not even now!”, Eva laughed crazily.</p><p> </p><p>“That's ENOUGH!”, Marie suddenly exploded. “<em>Leventio!</em>” And just like that the chair the pack used to bound Theo to instantly moved into the middle of the room, the ropes closing around Eva's wrists to pull her onto the chair. They fastened themselves around her body, immobilizing her.</p><p> </p><p>Eva didn't like this gesture at all. “What the hell IS THIS??!”, she roared, her eyes blazed in pure anger now. She was looking at Marie like she just betrayed her. Which she technically did.</p><p> </p><p>But Marie was having non of it. “I'm sorry, sister, but you've POSSESSED someone. This counts as the torture of human beings in the world of witchcraft and deserves to be punished. Also, I'm not sure you're entirely innocent otherwise. You've cursed Theo and even wanted to KILL him just a while ago. I'm sorry, but I can't just ignore such a behavior!”</p><p> </p><p>Eva sneered at her aggressively now. “Oh, so you think Theo was the <em>first</em> man I've ever hurt? Believe me, sister, I've hurt a LOT of men already. And I'm not even ashamed to admit it, because ALL MEN ARE TRAITORS AND MURDERERS and deserve to DIE!”</p><p> </p><p>Marie shook her head. “No, you're WRONG! Just because you had the misfortune to meet someone as cruel as Antonio, there are a lot of GOOD people out there! You're just living in the past and refuse to SEE that! Big sister, you've been MISGUIDED!”</p><p> </p><p>But Eva was still just sneering at Marie, trying to get out of the chair. To no avail though.</p><p> </p><p>“So what now?”, she spat in distaste. “What are YOU gonna do with me now, huh? Gonna kill me YOURSELF? You know you won't be able to do that without killing Tessa as well, don't you?”, she smirked darkly.</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn't <em>kill</em> you, sister”, Marie shook her head with a sad expression on her face. “But I HAVE to bring you to the Coven and report your sins. Maybe I could convince them you haven't killed those witches but Antonio. But only if you cooperate!”</p><p> </p><p>“TRY me!”, Eva spat. Marie sighed, her face taking on a certain determination now.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine. Have it your way then”. And with that she put her hands in front of her and began to chant in Latin. The whole room began to shake. The lamps began to swing back and forth lightly, and the lights began to flicker. Marie's eyes took on some kind of a green shade now.</p><p> </p><p>Liam wasn't sure what was happening here. It looked like an earthquake and he wasn't able to stand properly without falling anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“What … What's happening?”, he shouted over Eva's screams of outraged pain to Scott, panicking. Scott shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I think Marie's trying to do some sort of exorcism!”, he shouted back. Liam gulped, gaping between Eva and Marie now. And sure enough, it really looked like Eva's soul was trying to pull away from Tessa's body. The witch's head was thrown back, her mouth wide open in agony. Her face expression was one of hate and stubbornness though.</p><p> </p><p>Finally – after what seemed like hours – Marie let out a pained shout herself and a blurry silhouette extracted itself from the body of the bound girl, flying towards the witch. Once it reached Marie, the witch's own body began to convulse slightly, letting the silhouette in.</p><p> </p><p>Then everything stopped. The room wasn't shaking anymore. The lamps stopped moving and flickering. Tessa was sitting in the chair, obviously unconscious. And Marie just stood there, panting heavily.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it – is is done?”, Scott croaked out unsure, exchanging nervous glances with the pack. “Is she gone?”, he asked Marie.</p><p> </p><p>Marie just nodded silently. “I have her with me now. After helping Theo I'm gonna go to the Coven and bring her with me. Eva is going to be faced with the consequences, I'll make sure of that"</p><p> </p><p>Just at this moment they heard a low groaned coming from Tessa who was apparently waking up now. Upon seeing she was bound and unable to get out, she started panicking, glancing up at the pack with round scared eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“What … Wh-what is happening?? Why am I bound??”, she gasped, struggling. Immediately Liam hurried over to get her free.</p><p> </p><p>Once she spotted Liam the girl began to calm down a little. “Liam?”, she croaked. “What happened? Why am I at your house? Oh god, my head's killing me! Why c-can't I remember anything??”</p><p> </p><p>Liam huffed in exasperation. Theo's girlfriend had been awake for not even thirty seconds now, and was already starting to annoy him with her too many questions. Nothing new here then.</p><p> </p><p>“It's a long story”, he just muttered through gritted teeth. “Now don't move, I'm trying to get you out of these”, he motioned to the ropes with a nod of his head.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Once the girl had been fried, the pack was watching her awkwardly.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Scott cleared his throat. “Hi, Tessa”, he smiled lamely. “I'm Scott and these are my friends”, he motioned to the pack. “We are … friends of Theo and Liam. Maybe you've seen one of us at the school once or twice? Anyway, something had happened to you and you landed here... Please don't ask any questions right now, it's difficult to explain. You just have to know we aren't going to hurt you”, he explained, putting his hand in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>Tessa was frowning, eyeing the pack skeptically. Then, her eyes suddenly widened.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my God, Theo!”, she all but ran to the boy on the sofa. Upon reaching him she began to shake him, frowning at the lack of response even more now. She turned to the pack.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell have you DONE to him?!”, she demanded accusingly, her eyes on the verge of tears now.</p><p> </p><p>“Don't touch him!”, Liam snapped at her possessively, already grabbing her arm and yanking her away from the still whimpering chimera.</p><p> </p><p>Tessa cringed. “But can't you see that he's in PAIN? He's CRYING!”</p><p> </p><p>“I CAN see that, woman!”, the beta sneered. “But we've got this! We cannot wake him up, he's got to wake up on his own. And he will!”</p><p> </p><p>In this very moment Theo's whimpering was interrupted by his own words. Those words were the first ones he's spoken after HOURS this evening. They rang very clearly through the sudden silence in the room.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“It's ok. You don't have to stop”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Then he fell silent, his face going slack and his chest rising and falling slowly now. Peacefully even. For the first time in hours.</p><p> </p><p>The pack frowned, Malia clearing her throat awkwardly. “I've heard it from Theo once already”, she announced.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing her pack's confusion, she huffed in exasperation. “Remember the time he just came back from Hell and I wanted to kill him? He said the exact same words back then”, she explained, ignoring Tessa's gasp of horror and irritation.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>He's finally accepted his fate</em>”, Marie threw in suddenly, studying Theo curiously, almost in fascination. “Judging by those words he – whatever horrors he'd been faced with – finally accepted this happening to him. That's a good sign actually. Meaning he's gonna wake up soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam blew out a relieved sigh. Ok, he definitely could work with that information.</p><p> </p><p>Then, a few seconds later, Theo's eyes suddenly flew open, the chimera drawing a panicked breath and shooting up into a sitting position.</p><p> </p><p>“THEO?!”, Liam gasped, rushing towards the chimera.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Theo winced slightly, Liam's shout obviously startling him. He turned towards Liam and looked at him. Then, without any sign of recognition, he turned to look at the intrigued pack. Then, just like that, he lowered his head, threw both of his arms around his own knees and began to rock back and forth slightly.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, you don't have to stop. It's ok, you don't have to stop.”</p><p> </p><p>With cold dread spreading in his chest Liam was witnessing Theo turning into an empty shell, repeating those words over and over again.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, please LOOK at me!”, the beta called in desperation. But the chimera wouldn't look at him again. Not even hearing him.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell is happening?”, Scott asked Marie, actually sounding scared now. The young witch began to shake her head, looking slightly scared herself.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm afraid whatever Theo went through during the reversal process, had messed up his mind pretty badly. I've been fearing it already – it seems like the memories he got back kept repeating over and over again, making him relive that at a<em> high speed</em>. This apparently has broken him.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam let out a sob, feeling like all false sense of control was slipping from him again. “But ... I mean – You CAN do something to fix him, right?”, he asked the witch hopefully.</p><p> </p><p>But Marie just shook her head again, an apologetic expression appearing on her face. “I'm really sorry, Liam”, she said. “But your friend has a damage that doesn't have a magical background here. I mean, his memories aren't something magical, even if he might have gained them in a place created by magic. It's rather a classical emotional trauma we're dealing with here. I'm sorry, but my magic won't help in Theo's case”</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing that Liam sank to his knees, defeated. He glanced back at Theo, silently praying to gain a reaction out of the chimera, but the other one was still rocking back and forth without acknowledging the outside world.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly there were warm arms around the beta. He inhaled sharply, the warm scent of Scott sipping through his nostrils.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, Liam”, the Alpha said in a soothing tone. “We're here for you … and for Theo. We're gonna help him”</p><p> </p><p>The beta just silently nodded. Theo was desperately in a need of help – so helping the chimera was the least the pack could do for him – after having sent Theo to this horrible place themselves.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Helpless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Liam has decided to skip school to assist Theo, but the outcome isn't something he'd expected...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Guys, thank you for your feedback as always :) To begin with, I have to warn you: if you were thinking this story was angsty, the angsty part is just about to begin. So the next chapters are about to get a warning tag. I'm sorry... I still try to write some funny moments of course, but as you've already noticed, Theo is having a hard time here.</p><p>WARNING for this chapter: some untypical behavior (in no way funny though, at least not in the first part) due to Theo's condition. Blood.</p><p>PS: if you have your own expectations or questions concerning Theo's future, please feel free to comment, I'll GLADLY take it into consideration as always :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they came up with the question about what to do with Theo, Liam hasn't left room for any argument. He just ordered Mason and Scott to help him with getting Theo upstairs and into the beta's own bedroom. He just couldn't trust the traumatized chimera to stay on his own tonight. Thankfully, Theo was cooperating. Or at least, he didn't put up a fight. Then again, it made Liam sad that the other boy wasn't acknowledging anything at all, just letting them maneuver him instead.</p><p> </p><p>So now here they were, Liam and Theo, sharing the beta's bed. All the members of the pack were long gone, and it was long past the midnight now. The beta was lying there facing Theo warily. Or at least his back, to be exact. Because as soon as Liam placed Theo on the bed, the other one had instantly curled into a ball. He looked so small lying there, still mumbling. Liam swallowed heavily, not exactly knowing what to do. Should he comfort the chimera? Should he try to draw his attention somehow? He really didn't know, because he hadn't ever witnessed Theo in such a state. Tentatively, the beta reached out a shaking hand towards the older boy, withdrawing it at the very last second, with his hand just hovering there inches above the chimera's shoulder. No, he couldn't do this … It was too much for him too. So Liam just sighed and turned away from Theo, deciding to give sleep a try.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>He must have dosed off pretty quickly, probably due to all the stress and exhaustion. And now that he jolted awake, Liam noticed it was still pitch black in the middle of the night. Disoriented, he tried to figure out what had awaken him. Sure enough, the harsh gasping sounds, accompanied with low broken whining, were coming right next to his right.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo?”, he whispered, shaking the crying chimera slightly. The other didn't give any indication of noticing. He clearly was trapped in a nightmare.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo!”, Liam begged slightly louder now. “Hey, come back to me! It's just a nightmare. Everything is fine”</p><p> </p><p>Just then did he notice a strange smell biting at his lungs. He cringed at that. Whatever it was, it certainly didn't smell nice.</p><p> </p><p>With dreadful realization he finally leaned over Theo, his fears coming true. With shaking hands he threw back the bed covers revealing Theo's shaking body.</p><p> </p><p>The front of the chimera's trousers was soaking wet, spotting a dark stain. The white sheets beneath him had turned yellowish overnight.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck”, Liam muttered quietly. He knew the situation with Theo was quite serious, but he hadn't realized just HOW serious it was just until that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Had the chimera soiled himself because his nightmare had scared the hell out of him, or was this loss of control just another thing Liam had to assist Theo with from now on? If the latter, Liam was certain Theo was gone completely now. And it made him scream in denial every time he looked at the chimera. That wasn't supposed to be happening. Not to Theo anyway. But here they were now.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo ...”, the beta started, a numb feeling rising in his chest. Damn, everything felt so surreal at the moment. “I know if you'd be the old annoying yourself now, you'd certainly murder me for that. But I promise that if you cooperate, I'll gladly let you break my nose a few times once you find out what I did”. With that, he awkwardly grabbed around Theo's waist and pulled him out of the bed.</p><p> </p><p>It slightly proved to be a struggle, but finally the two of them managed to the bathroom. Panting, the beta lowered the still shaking Theo gently on the closed toilet seat and turned on the water. The bathtub began to fill rather quickly.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo”, Liam sighed. “Can you stretch out your legs for me please? I'm gonna remove this thing off of you now”. He was relieved when the chimera just let Liam undress him. He wasn't crying anymore, but just staring right in front of him with glassy eyes, obviously still lost in his own world.</p><p> </p><p>Once Theo was finally seated in the hot water, he began to mumble once again.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, you don't have to stop. It's ok, you don't have to stop”</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing it, Liam's eyes began to water. He could see Theo was suffering, and felt just so helpless and useless …</p><p> </p><p>So all he could do now was to take a soft cloth and begin to rub the soap into the chimera's body...</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>The next morning...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, eat, PLEASE!”, Liam whined. He still couldn't believe he would end up spoon-feeding someone BEFORE marrying and becoming a dad. But apparently, Theo was full of (unpleasant) surprises. AGAIN.</p><p> </p><p>But the said chimera just ignored the spoon in front of his lips, continuing to slightly rock back and forth on the kitchen chair. The movement caused the spoon to bump into his jaw a few times, the droplets of hot chicken soup falling down on his white shirt, creating a mess.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo”, Liam hissed through gritted teeth. “If you don't drop that attitude, I'm gonna strap you down to that chair like a small kid!”. Of course he wouldn't do such a thing to the chimera. But he really was wondering how Theo managed to still be a stubborn little shit despite of his condition.</p><p> </p><p>Despite the beta's “threats” Theo still continued to ignore him.</p><p> </p><p>“Fiiine”, Liam finally dragged out. “If you don't like the soup, maybe some vegetables then? They're baked, I promise you they taste good. Please, Theo, you NEED to eat to get better.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the beta took some vegetables and moved the fork towards the chimera's tightly closed lips.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly Theo growled, looking irritated.</p><p> </p><p>He fucking GROWLED.</p><p> </p><p>And Liam was EXTATIC. Because if that was the reaction to the vegetables (at least, he hoped so), then it could mean the chimera was finally becoming responsive to the outside world.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh”, Liam mumbled puzzled, smiling slightly. “I didn't know you hated baked pumpkin so much”</p><p> </p><p>Just in that moment someone knocked on the entrance door, and apparently deciding it wasn't worth waiting for Liam to open it, a slightly breathless Mason marched into the room, followed by an equally breathless Corey and … well, the fucking TESSA. Who looked kind of furious by the way.</p><p> </p><p>“What's happening?”, Liam furrowed his brows, not understanding what they all were doing here at this early morning hour. “It's not even six, the school is still two hours away”</p><p> </p><p>Mason nodded jerkily. “Yeah”, he panted. “But Theo's … girlfriend here”, he gestured pointedly at Tessa, his lips turning into a thin line, “just burst into my house and demanded to drive her to YOUR house so she could see Theo before going to school. She said you wouldn't let her in without my presence here”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam turned to Tessa now, sending her a death glare.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”, Tessa hissed, already crooking her neck to get a better sight of the chimera, who was still sitting at the kitchen table. “Am I not allowed to visit my own BOYFRIEND now? I just wanna take care of him”</p><p> </p><p>Right at that moment Theo, apparently irritated by the whole shouting in the room, let out another menacing (and not an entirely human) growl and abruptly threw the plate with vegetables in front of him down on the floor. Some of the vegetables were sent flying across the room, while some of it landed on Theo's shirt and face. On top of that, the porcelain pieces of the broken dish were lying dangerously close to his still bare feet now. But the chimera didn't seem to register anything of it, his now brightly yellow (!) eyes glowing and glaring at the newcomers.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing his chimera eyes, Tessa let out a loud fearful shriek, already backing away towards the entrance door. Liam began panicking. He didn't entirely know what exactly was happening here himself, but he CERTAINLY didn't need Tessa to witness anything belonging to the world of supernatural. They'd almost failed to come up with an excuse for her possession the other evening. So whether or not she'd bought the whole nonsense about apparently having some blackout episodes during which she turned into a violent psycho wasn't clear to them either. Well, at least Tessa hasn't questioned it too much so far.</p><p> </p><p>But the scene she was currently witnessing here kind of ruined everything. Because Liam CERTAINLY wasn't sure how to explain to her Theo's suddenly glowing eyes – let alone his entire feral behavior.</p><p> </p><p>“Tessa, I think it's not the right time now, we have to go”, Mason threw in quickly, already grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her towards the exit.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I'm sorry”, Tessa just stuttered softly, seemingly still in shock, while she eagerly accepted Mason's request. Liam wasn't really sure whom she was apologizing to.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Liam closed the door and blew out a shuddering breath. For several moments he was just standing there, still facing the door and wondering what the hell they were going to do with Tessa's newest discovery now.</p><p> </p><p>That, until he heard a loud thud. Wincing, the beta quickly turned around. His eyes widened in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“THEO!!”</p><p> </p><p>Theo, who apparently had stumbled upon the broken porcelain, was now lying on the floor, curled into a ball. His bare feet were colored in a sickening bright red, and several large pieces of porcelain were still sticking out of tender skin.</p><p> </p><p>But whatever shock Theo was in now, the incident had clearly sent him into his unresponsive state of mind again. He didn't seem to acknowledge any pain. He was just lying there, curled into a ball once again and mumbling.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, you don't have to stop. It's ok, you don't have to stop.”</p><p> </p><p>“Liam?!”</p><p> </p><p>The beta turned around, bewildered. Before he had any time to register what was happening, there was Corey, already running towards the older chimera.</p><p> </p><p>“Corey? I – I th-thought you left with Mason?”, Liam stuttered, feeling useless and helpless once again.</p><p> </p><p>“I was about to, but then I heard the thud and your scream. Supernatural hearing, remember?”</p><p> </p><p>Liam nodded. His hands were shaking. He looked down at Theo's shivering form and gasped in shock. There was so much BLOOD. A red large puddle was spreading already at an alarmingly high speed. Liam frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“I d-don't understand. Where is it coming from? That can't be coming from his feet alone. And why the hell isn't Theo healing??”</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing the puddle, Corey paled, obviously in shock himself.</p><p> </p><p>“I don't … Wait, help me turn him onto his back!”</p><p> </p><p>Together, Corey and Liam managed to softly turn Theo around. And once they did, they gasped in an even greater shock.</p><p> </p><p>A very large piece of porcelain was sticking out of the chimera's stomach. The lower part of his white shirt was entirely crimson now, and they literally could see even more blood rushing out of the fatal wound.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok”, Liam finally found his voice, trying hard to pull himself together. “Hang on there, I'll bring a towel and then we gonna pull it out of him”. With that, the beta quickly rushed to get the towel.</p><p> </p><p>Five seconds later he was back, hovering over the still mumbling Theo. If anything, his mumbling turned even louder and more desperate now. It looked as if he were praying or something. Praying to someone to not stop. But to whom?</p><p> </p><p>“Hold him still”, he ordered. Corey quickly complied.</p><p> </p><p>It was a slow drag and pull, but finally they managed to get the piece out of Theo. He barely acknowledged the whole procedure.</p><p> </p><p>“WHY THE HELL ISN'T HE HEALING?!”, Liam suddenly roared, once noticing the blood flow wouldn't stop.</p><p> </p><p>“I don't know. But we need Melissa, NOW!”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Corey quickly dialed Melissa's private phone number. Quickly calling all the other pack members afterwards.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Meanwhile, Liam took hold of Theo's left hand, his own hands still shaking.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, Theo. We gonna help you. You gonna be fine”. With that, the beta closed his eyes and began to draw the pain from Theo's body. He gasped at the intensity of it. But if he could help, THAT was the least he could do for now.</p><p> </p><p>Still drawing the pain, the beta barely registered the silence. A moment later he looked down, the dread that Theo might be dead freezing his insides.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo wasn't dead. In fact, he'd stopped his mumbling and was now looking AT Liam instead! Looking him directly in the eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Liam's breath got stuck in his throat at this sight. He simply stared back into the other boy's eyes, silently wondering what was going on. Then he looked down at his own hand where it was still joined with Theo's. He suddenly became aware he was still drawing the chimera's pain, but it was barely existent anymore. Suddenly, he heard a shaky breath coming from Theo. Some swallowing. Then -</p><p> </p><p>“Liam?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo's voice was quiet and raspy. Raspy, broken and weak. But it was HIS voice. And only now, as Liam glanced down at the chimera's face was he beginning to register what he was witnessing. He was witnessing Theo TALKING to him. OH MY GOD. THEO WAS TALKING TO HIM!!</p><p> </p><p>“Theo!”, Liam let out a hysterical laugh of relief. But his laugh quickly died down once he remembered the whole gravity of the situation.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, wh-why aren't you healing? I tried everything, but you just wouldn't heal!”, he pleaded.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera frowned, slightly craning his neck to look down at himself now.</p><p> </p><p>“I … What's happening? I d-don't remember ...”</p><p> </p><p>And then, a shiny silvery substance began to slowly make its way out of his nose.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing that, Liam wanted to die.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Dying ...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo is dying. LITERALLY. Will the Pack be able to save him? Also, some truths are revealed, once again.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello there! Now we go into an even darker part of this story. But I PROMISE to make it better. Literally everything from the next chapter on will get better.</p><p>WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH</p><p>I'm sorry, but this is necessary for the further development of the story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The panic. The panic in Theo's eyes was all Liam could see. The beta didn't even have a chance to be relieved about the other one finally being aware enough to actually acknowledge him, because currently all he could read in those frightened big eyes was a desperate cry for help.</p><p> </p><p>Not that Theo could talk or anything. Instead, he had been chocking on mercury for a good amount of the last ten minutes now, the thick silver liquid flowing from his mouth and getting into his airways. His face had turned deathly pale already and all Liam could think about now was <em>Please don't die. Just don't fucking die on me. Not you. Not like this.</em></p><p> </p><p>And yet here they were, having somehow managed to get Theo to Deaton's clinic where the rest of the pack minus Malia had gathered around the table the dying chimera was currently lying on. Thank God Melissa was there too now.</p><p> </p><p>“I got it”, she nodded sharply, all businesslike, already pulling out a big syringe with a greenish liquid in it. Liam frowned, helplessly looking at Scott for confirmation. The other one nodded subtly.</p><p> </p><p>“Don't worry, Liam, it's called Nine Herbs. There's nothing it can't repair. Just trust my mom, she knows what she's doing”, he said.</p><p> </p><p>The beta smiled, feeling slightly relieved. “It's ok, Theo. Melissa's gonna help you. You're gonna be fine”, he mumbled shakily.</p><p> </p><p>Melissa looked at Theo with sympathy. “This is gonna hurt a lot though, kid. Scott, Liam, hold him down. And for God's sake, Stiles, if you cannot stomach all of that, please stay back and don't distract me”, she gave Stiles an exasperated side glance. “Ready? One, two, three!”</p><p> </p><p>Theo roared in agony, loosing control over his animals now. But for some reason his animals were becoming weak. His eyes kept flickering between gold and his natural green, and his blunt fingernails were digging painfully into Liam's arm now. He was shaking all over, desperately clutching at the said arms like to an anchor. After ten seconds of agony his eyes began to glaze over again.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, you don't have to stop”, he began to repeat feverishly.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Theo … Theo! Stay with me, it's gonna be over soon”, Liam pleaded, seeing the chimera's regression once again. The mercury flowing from his mouth didn't stop. If anything, the flow only became stronger now. The blood dripping from his stomach didn't stop either.</p><p> </p><p>Melissa seemed to have noticed it too. She frowned deeply, silently swearing under her breath. “Something here isn't right. This isn't the common reaction to the Herbs. … Damn, he's going into shock! Theo, Theo, sweetie, can you here me? Look at me please!”, she pleaded, her mother instincts taking over now.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo couldn't look at her. In fact, he was sure he was suffocating to death now. The world around him was beginning to fade, turning into a blur of gray and black now, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes. He made a weak attempt to say something, to tell LIAM something. Even if he wasn't sure what. Was it a Sorry? But he wasn't sure what he should be apologizing for. Or maybe a Thank You? He had no ideas at the moment why he should thank the beta, but he knew he was grateful for something …</p><p> </p><p>The only thing he was CERTAINLY sure about was that he was dying. And there was nothing that could stop it. So once he began to see a weak white light in front of his eyes, he felt his lips curling into a slight sad smile.</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok”, he croaked.</p><p> </p><p>Then everything turned black.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>It was cold. The coldness coming from the hard metal beneath his back. He knew that. He was prepared. And it was ok. This is how it was supposed to be.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed. This whole thing was painfully familiar, but at least there was no actual pain this time. To compare with that, whatever Melissa had pushed into him had caused him a great agony, something he hadn't felt for a long time now. Not even Tara ripping her heart out of him could cause such an agony. Even if, it was only for a second, because the next second he would be waking up in the morgue once again. No, with Tara it wasn't the physical pain he always used to be afraid of. It was this painful expectation, the chase, the guilt that was eating away at him upon seeing this frightening hole in his sister's chest. The pain of the knowledge that it had been HIM who had done it to her.</p><p> </p><p>And all this pain – the emotional one – came to him once again now. But it was ok. After all, Theo knew he'd deserved it.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera slowly climbed out of the body locker. The cold air of the morgue making him shiver even more now. He stopped then, slightly tilting his head to listen. He knew the routine by now.</p><p> </p><p>And sure enough, Theo hadn't have to wait any much longer.</p><p> </p><p>“Theeeooooo ...”. There she was. And this time, the chimera knew there was no point in running away.</p><p> </p><p>So he just turned towards the exit of the morgue, already spotting her there, standing motionlessly in the door.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello Tara”, he swallowed, trying to smile. He's accepted his fate a long time ago (and he really was wondering why he had this feeling of having been here very RECENTLY. Surely there has passed much more time since Liam had pulled him back from Hell, hadn't it?). But maybe he was just going crazy now.</p><p> </p><p>The pale ghost of his sister still stood there, staring at him with her dead eyes. Theo took a tentative step forward.</p><p> </p><p>“You don't have to stop now. Just take what you came for”, the chimera pleaded. This whole feeling of expectation was worse than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>And sure enough, suddenly Tara was right in front of him, with her arm already stretched out for her heart.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo?”</p><p> </p><p>The sudden voice made Theo flinch.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>“Theo?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The voice was female and painfully familiar. Theo's heart began to beat at a maddeningly fast pace now. And it wasn't from the adrenaline of expectation.</p><p> </p><p>Then it suddenly clicked, the chimera's eyes growing wide in realization. What? How? It couldn't be …</p><p> </p><p>But suddenly the ghost of Tara faded away, and all Theo could see in front of him was Tara, once again. But she looked different. She looked ALIVE. </p><p> </p><p>And she was<em> smiling</em> at him. Theo felt tears swelling in his eyes at the sight.</p><p> </p><p>“T-Tara? H-How?”, he stuttered out, feeling weak in his knees now. He REALLY didn't understand anything anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, whatever that creature was, whatever was hurting you, it wasn't me”, Tara explained softly, slightly smiling. “God, I've never thought I'd see you again”. And – if it was even possible – Theo swore he could see his sister's eyes filling up with tears too.</p><p> </p><p>And yeah, he still didn't understand. But whatever it was, it certainly was much more welcoming than the sinister version of Tara's ghost ripping out his heart. So Theo figured out he could play along a bit. Even if it was a trick, he could as well enjoy this sight of his sister for a while.</p><p> </p><p>“Tara, I don't know what's going on – or what you ARE – but it's good to see you again too”, he smiled back weakly. And noticed that he actually meant it.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing his hesitance, Tara gave him an amused grin. “Just trust me, I'm your sister. The right one. The only one. I know all about you from when we still were kids. God, it seems like it all had been just yesterday. But look at you, you've certainly grown up just fine, little brother”, she smirked, giving him a pointed glance over. Theo gave out a weak and teary laugh at that. God, the person – or the thing – standing in front of him screamed all Tara. Even her smirk matched so much his own one. Suddenly, Theo found himself believing. Believing that it was real. He really WANTED to believe it.</p><p> </p><p>“But Tara”, he hesitated. “I KILLED you. Don't you remember? I – I'd been just standing there and watching you freeze to death in that lake. You remember that, right?”. He really needed to know.</p><p> </p><p>Tara's smile turned sad. She nodded. “I do”. But upon seeing Theo's ashamed look she added quietly. “But hey, it's ok, Theo. I forgive you, I really do”</p><p> </p><p>Theo shook his head, surprised, but not believing a word. So maybe it all was just a trick after all? “But how? How can you be so forgiving? You were a TEENAGER, Tara, and I took away EVERYTHING from you. Every happy memory you could've still created if you were alive.”</p><p> </p><p>Tara sighed, shaking her own head now. “No, Theo, it's ok. You're right, I was a teenager. But YOU were a CHILD. And a scared one. I know how you struggled with your heart condition and the knowledge that you don't have so much time left … I've seen the fear in your eyes in all those sleepless nights I was there to calm you down from a nightmare. And believe me or not, but the Dread Doctors came to me too once. Back then I didn't remember, didn't realize it, because they somehow managed to erase my memories. But now – in the afterlife – I do. I remember them convincing me to give you my heart. And believe me, they REALLY proved to be convincing. I remember myself agreeing. I was even looking forward to it. I remember myself thinking that I was selfish, and didn't offer you my heart on my own”</p><p> </p><p>Theo's eyes were growing wide in surprise with every piece of this new information Tara was giving. Never in his life has he ever thought something like THIS could have happened. In every scenario, it had been HIM doing this to his sister against her will. He didn't even know she was contacted by the Dread Doctors first.</p><p> </p><p>“I … But I remember the lake”, he argued weakly in confusion. “Tara, whatever the Doctors had convinced you of, that still doesn't change the fact that I was standing there and watching you die! I don't even recall anything I felt back then while watching! Who does that?? I think there really might be something wrong with me”</p><p> </p><p>Tara sighed. “Maybe … Maybe not. But that's all in the past, Theo, and I forgave you. And you know why? Because I've seen you in Hell all those months ago. And I've seen how much you were suffering and how much you were sorry. I still can see it. You have my heart, remember? So I've noticed you in Hell back then, but couldn't really reach out for you. I don't know why. But today, for the very first time I could. Maybe because this is the afterlife, and not some magic prison anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo looked up at her, surprised. “How do you even know about the Skinwalkers' Prison?”</p><p> </p><p>Tara just rolled her eyes, amused by his apparent stupidity. “As I said, you have my heart. I'm your guardian, dumbass. Even if I wasn't, I'd still be stuck with you because of it. So, of COURSE I know everything about you. I was there watching the Dread Doctors playing with you, torturing you, rearranging you into someone who you aren't, or weren't at least. But I also witnessed you trying to change, helping out the Pack, risking your life over and over again for a certain blue eyed boy you have a crush on”</p><p> </p><p>“Tara!”, Theo hissed, his face heating up in embarrassment now. “This is PERSONAL. Are you even there when I go to the toilet or what?”</p><p> </p><p>Tara snorted, rolling her eyes even more. “Oh c'mon, little brother. Don't be ridiculous! As for your little crush there, which I see you're not even denying by the way” - Theo groaned at that heavily - “you really should just talk to Liam about how you feel. As I see, he's even more of an oblivious dumbass than you are”</p><p> </p><p>Theo frowned in confusion. “But … How should I talk to him if I'm dead?”</p><p> </p><p>Tara chuckled amused. “Oh, believe me, you're NOT. You were, but apparently they brought you back. So as much as I've enjoyed finally talking to you again, little brother, our ways have to part here for now. Just know that I've forgiven you, and that I love you”, she smiled warmly.</p><p> </p><p>Theo's tears were back once again. “I love you too, big sister. Now that Hell made me feel things again, I just feel so much. I'm so sorry I did this to you, I would give ANYTHING to undo it if I could”</p><p> </p><p>“It's ok, Theo. I'm ok, I've accepted my death a long time ago. And as for you, just live your life, brother. It can be beautiful once you let people you love into it. Tell Liam you love him. And know that I will be there watching over you and support you as much as I can. I think it's gonna be an interesting journey you'll take us on there”, she grinned slyly. It was Theo's turn to roll with his eyes now.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>How did you like it? Has it fulfilled your expectations so far? Are you excited for more? Please PLEASE give a feedback, whether kudos or a comment. So I know you all are still alive out there. Thank you! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Old Plans, New Hope</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo is getting better. Some funny stuff happens. Some plans are being made. I promised to make it up to you after all :) But we still don't get to learn why the Nine Herbs haven't worked on Theo the way they should have, you'll learn it in the next chapter.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there! Usually I'm updating once a week, but today I had some free time and got inspired :) I'm always enjoying the reactions of who's reading this story and supporting our poor Theo and his way to redemption. Keep it up with comments and thank you! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The bright sunlight blended him for a moment, but the rays falling onto his face were warm and gentle. He smiled. He felt fresh and rested. As though he woke up from a very long dream.</p><p> </p><p>But this time it hadn't been a nightmare that made him wake up screaming and sweaty every time since his trip to Hell. No, this time it had been something else. Something new. Something warm and light.</p><p> </p><p>This time he had been talking to Tara. Theo's heart began to race with a sudden joy as he started to recall the dream in detail.</p><p> </p><p>Tara. Just like he remembered her. Smiling that warm smile of hers. Always joking, occasionally being cheeky. Calling him Little brother.</p><p> </p><p>And normally, that would make him sad. Because it were the memories he usually had been trying to bury deep down in his mind. They just made him sad. They made him feel guilty. So he'd been trying to bury them down long enough to not even feel affected in the end.</p><p> </p><p>But this morning, as he was recalling those memories, Theo was surprised to notice they didn't make him feel bad at all. Instead, they made him feel <em>hopeful</em>.</p><p> </p><p>But why?</p><p> </p><p>Just then, they memories suddenly shifted to words. <em>Just live your life, brother</em>. <em>It can be beautiful once you let people you love into it. Tell Liam you love him.</em></p><p> </p><p>What??</p><p> </p><p>And suddenly Theo began to remember. He began to recall every little detail of his so called dream. The morgue. His sister (not sister?) extending her arm to once again rip his heart out of his chest. His actual sister appearing. Their talk. Her telling him he wasn't dead because the pack managed to save him.</p><p> </p><p>Oh right. He died. But he wasn't dead <em>now</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Next came the images of him dying. The way it felt when you're suffocating. The strong desire to tell Liam something but knowing that you don't have enough time to even form those thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>What did he want to tell Liam again?</p><p> </p><p>Oh God. Liam! Theo really hoped this damn witch hadn't done anything to the beta before knocking Theo out. Though while dying he was certain Liam didn't look injured or anything. Still, he really had to find him.</p><p> </p><p>With adrenaline rushing through his veins, he sprang out of bed and was pleasantly surprised he actually had some boxers on, for change. He stopped for a short moment to listen. And sure enough, he could hear faint noises of dish coming from the kitchen on the first floor. Theo frowned slightly at how far the noises were but brushed it off quickly, the excitement never leaving him. Because that meant Liam – or someone at least – was in the house.</p><p> </p><p>So the chimera quickly made his way down the stairs, panting slightly when he came down into the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>“Liam?”</p><p> </p><p>The said beta turned around so quickly he actually looked like a scared cat jumping high into the air. Upon seeing Theo, his eyes widened comically. Theo frowned. Liam looked at him as though he'd just seen a ghost. Well, theoretically it might be partly true, Theo mused. Considering that he, again theoretically, just came back from the dead.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo! OMG!”. That was all the warning the chimera got before finding himself with an armful of Liam. He drew in a shaky breath, not expecting such a display of affection. Heck, when even was the last time the beta had hugged him? Probably never.</p><p> </p><p>Once coming down from the initial shock, the chimera finally relaxed, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Liam too now. “Well, hello to you too”, he chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how to handle the other boy's rather untypical behavior.</p><p> </p><p>Liam snorted at that, finally unwrapping himself from the hug and mustering Theo with big fond eyes. “Still a smart-ass then, I see”</p><p> </p><p>Theo gave him a nervous smirk, hoping the cheekiness would cover up just HOW nervous he suddenly felt. “What can I say, that's a gift”, he grinned.</p><p> </p><p>Liam smiled. “Man, it's so good to have you back”</p><p> </p><p>Theo mustered him carefully. Liam wasn't that cheery usually. Actually, he always appeared to be rather annoyed by Theo's presence, even though they both knew it was just an act.</p><p> </p><p>“I … How long exactly have I been .. gone, I guess? I'm not even sure what happened when that bitch witch threw this freaking light ball towards me. She must have cursed me or something”, the chimera theorized.</p><p> </p><p>Liam began biting his lip, suddenly nervous. Wait, why was he becoming nervous?</p><p> </p><p>“Well, w-what exactly do you remember?”, he stuttered out. Causing the chimera to frown even more now.</p><p> </p><p>“I just remember the witch cursing me, apparently, then I remember choking on mercury and then waking up in hell”</p><p> </p><p>Liam seemed to slowly consider this information, studying Theo's face and heartbeat for any lies. Again, WHAT THE HECK? And there Theo had been thinking they were past all this distrust. The relieved look Liam gave him afterwards didn't make Theo feel better now.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that's … That was about it”, Liam's face was unreadable. Theo tried to listen to HIS heart, in turn, but frowned that he somehow couldn't. <em>What the hell was going on here??</em></p><p> </p><p>“But you saved me”, Theo decided to change the topic for now. “Apparently, whatever she did to me killed me, but then you saved me”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam nodded, his eyes actually turning a little teary now. “Yes, we did. Well,<em> I</em> did, when the others lost hope. You were dead for nearly five minutes, Theo. The Nine Herbs Melissa gave to you did nothing but harm you. They only worked in the very end … after actually killing you. By the time your heart stopped beating, your wounds were healed. But you were dead. And Melissa failed to reanimate you. They tried to hold me back, but I ran over to you and decided to shock you myself”, he told, seemingly lost in his memories. Then Liam looked back at Theo. “Couldn't lose you just like that”, he added quickly, awkwardly clearing his throat. “Who would drive me back from school then?”, he laughed.</p><p> </p><p>“Touché”, Theo chuckled, knowing they were near a dangerous territory now. They didn't do feelings after all. “Well, thanks for bringing me back, I guess”, he scratched his neck, feeling as awkward as Liam now.</p><p> </p><p>“You're welcome”, Liam smiled slightly. “You reek by the way. Go grab a shower”</p><p> </p><p>Theo huffed, turning to go back upstairs.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>“As I'm saying, Theo is back to his normal self and has NO idea what'd happened in the time he was cursed.”, Liam whispered into the cellphone, hoping Theo wouldn't hear him while taking a shower. Damn supernatural hearing.</p><p> </p><p>On the other end of the line Scott sighed heavily. “Why do I have a feeling of a déjà vu here? You're really asking me if we could do the pack night where we would question Theo AGAIN? What if he remembers what he did and turns psycho on us one more time?”</p><p> </p><p>Liam huffed impatiently. “We'll be prepared this time, Scott. Please, I REALLY need to know whether or not he remembers something. I couldn't detect it by his heartbeat earlier, but you have to understand this here is really urgent. Every time I look into his eyes I can't get off this feeling he exactly knows that I've raped him once and just doesn't talk about it.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause on the line. “Well, DID you rape him?”, Scott finally carefully asked.</p><p> </p><p>Liam bit his lip. “I … I don't know. Maybe? I … had a feeling he wanted it at least. So I gave it to him 'cause he kinda forced me to, being a tease and everything. Had been a bit rough, yeah, but -”</p><p> </p><p>“Ok, ok, I didn't want to be reminded of just how rough it'd been”, Scott interrupted him quickly, chocking slightly on air. “Just … Just make sure he actually stays. If he's the Theo we've got to know after Hell he'll probably deny the offer for pack activity like he used to. Just … trick him into it or something”.</p><p> </p><p>Liam nodded. “Yeah … Yeah, good idea. Thanks, Scott, I gotta go now. Gotta test a theory”, the beta added, a sudden wicked idea popping into his head.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Theo was feeling ever better now. Standing there under the spray of warm water was a true bliss. It was as though all the weakness and tiredness he'd ever had was being washed away. He really didn't know the effects of dying could be that wonderful. But then again, it might have to do something with the fact that he'd gotten a rather good sleep tonight. Like … in forever. Or so it seemed. It also might have had to do with the fact, that he had the feeling his sister might have forgiven him after all. At least, the guilt wasn't eating away at him anymore. He felt at peace. So he smiled, relaxing under warm water.</p><p> </p><p>That, until someone with apparently no sense for privacy had decided to disturb his peace.</p><p> </p><p>Theo's eyes opened, his hands already automatically reaching to cover the lower half of his body with the loose shower curtain.</p><p> </p><p>Sure enough, there was Liam, unashamedly going to the sink and reaching out for his toothbrush.</p><p> </p><p>“LIAM?!”, Theo hissed, a great embarrassment immediately heating up his face. “What the hell are you DOING in here?? I'm NAKED, go AWAY!”</p><p> </p><p>For several second the beta just stood there, staring at Theo blankly, before a small smirk began to spread on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I have to brush my teeth after breakfast, don't I? Don't tell me you're embarrassed now or something”</p><p> </p><p>Theo groaned. What the hell was WRONG with Liam today?? “Well, maybe I AM? Like most others would be if someone just walks in while they're showering, NAKED??”</p><p> </p><p>“So? How else are they supposed to shower? With their clothes on?”, he asked nonchalantly and actually looked like he was enjoying playing stupid with Theo.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you FOR REAl now??”, Theo hissed. “Get. Out!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, your nudity didn't seem to be an issue for you before”, he smirked smugly.</p><p> </p><p>Theo chocked a little. “What is THAT supposed to mean now??”</p><p> </p><p>But the beta already seemed to have realized what he'd said. “Nothing”, he answered quickly, his eyes growing wide a little.</p><p> </p><p>Theo huffed, not buying a word of it. He would get his truth eventually. But for now, he REALLY needed to get Liam out of the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Liam didn't stay there for too long afterwards. Because he'd already got what he needed. A proof that Theo was HIS Theo now. Not the cold blooded murderer. And Liam BEAMED secretly. So his plan had worked after all. Going into the bathroom like nothing and observing Theo's reaction. Because he knew that the Theo who let himself get fucked against the door wouldn't be embarrassed by this whole situation at all. This Theo had just no shame.</p><p> </p><p>But the Theo he got back had apparently no memories of all of that indeed. And he always had been modest anyways. But Liam knew they still needed more proof. And on top of that, he wanted to see how the pack members would react. Because Theo had dug a hole for himself again. By attacking the pack and murdering two teenagers in cold blood. So if they were going to rip his head off for that, at least Liam would be there to prevent it. Which meant the whole thing with pack night was a good idea after all.</p><p> </p><p>He just needed to trick the chimera into staying home and participating in pack night activities …</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>This opportunity came at seven pm. Liam and Theo were playing PlayStation when the door bell suddenly rang.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, it's probably the pizza delivery I've ordered today”, Liam shrugged nonchalantly. “You wanna go downstairs and open the door already? I gotta grab some money first, no need for them to wait”</p><p> </p><p>Theo shrugged. “Sure”</p><p> </p><p>Liam let out a nervous breath, staying in his bedroom for a moment while listening for Theo opening the door …</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>Meanwhile, Theo opened the door … only to be faced with the whole pack, with Stiles and Scott in the very front.<em> Oh-oh</em>. Why were they here? He wasn't sure to have done anything he would get sent back to Hell for now, did he?</p><p> </p><p>So he simply raised his right eyebrow, trying to play nonchalant.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi?”. Upon not getting any further reaction rather than simple wide eyed and open mouthed staring from several members of the pack (and really, what WAS it with everyone today??), the chimera simply rolled his eyes, turning to face the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>“Liam?”, he called. “Your pack is here!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Another Pack Night ...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo stays to participate. Some serious things are happening.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Guys, this chapter isn't going to be the funny one. I'm sorry if you were hoping otherwise. Instead, this has been very emotional to write. On top of that, I've been FURIOUS for private reasons while writing, but writing Thiam is like a therapy for me lol, so I'm good now. Well, let's see where this all brings us. Also, we STILL don't get behind the reason why the NINE HERBS didn't work, ugh ...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo waited until he finally heard Liam coming downstairs, once again turning to face the group, who were still uncomfortably hovering on the threshold. He raised an eyebrow again, impatiently gesturing them to come in.</p><p> </p><p>“You gonna just stand there gaping at me or what?”, he snorted slightly.</p><p> </p><p>Once they all were finally – FINALLY – inside, they stood there, seemingly not knowing what to do with themselves. Theo really couldn't bear all those tension he literally was feeling right now. So apparently Liam was in a pack full of weirdos. Jeez, how fitting. Theo rolled his eyes upon thinking that.</p><p> </p><p>“Little Wolf, where the hell ARE you??”, he shouted again. “I don't know what the HELL is going on here, but your little pack here is creeping me out right now”. Someone he couldn't even see snickered. Theo threw his arms into the air, exhausted and exasperated now. “Really, do I even wanna know what this all is about??”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh I don't know”, Stiles finally found his voice again. “It's just that yesterday you were like … dying and not really acknowledging anyone, and today you are … all up and pitchy.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo snorted at that. “Yes, the Nine Herbs apparently healed me after all, so what? And what do you mean by me not acknowledging anyone? It's not like I could do anything else then but lying there dying”</p><p> </p><p>Stiles shook his head. “That's not what I meant. You probably don't remember it.”</p><p> </p><p>Just then Liam finally came to stand beside Theo. The chimera sighed in relief. Then something suddenly clicked in his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait”, he frowned, shooting the beta a glare. “You LIED to me. You said it would be just the delivery guy!”</p><p> </p><p>Liam had the dignity to look guilty at that. “Yeah I did. But listen, Theo, the pack just came to see how you're doing. They've seen you dying, LITERALLY. So just let them make sure you're ok.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo chuckled, not amused. “They came to see ME of all people? Liam, I'm not even pack. Surely you have something on me, I can see it on your very obvious faces”, he directed at the pack now, his eyes turning to thin slits. “Just shoot already”</p><p> </p><p>Scott cleared his throat finally. “Theo, what exactly do you remember?”</p><p> </p><p>The chimera looked up at him, surprised. “Um … Not much I guess. Just the moment the witch apparently cursed me, and then I woke up on the floor with a giant sharp something sticking out of my gut. Then … Then the agony, and then ...”. Brief images of Tara, his actual sister who was talking to him came into his mind once again, but he stopped speaking. This was private, they didn't need to know.</p><p> </p><p>“... And that's it”, he finished. Scott narrowed his eyes. Damn, he didn't buy the last sentence then. But just as quickly the suspicion came, the quickly that look was gone. The Alpha smiled then a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright!”, he clapped his hands together, eyeing his pack cheerfully. TOO cheerfully for Theo's tastes. “Since we all are here – and this is your first pack night, Theo, we should make it special. Liam, the pizza is still coming, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, sure”, the beta said, just as Theo protested “Hey, I didn't say I wanted to be a part of this!”</p><p> </p><p>Liam rolled his eyes. “No, Theo, you're <em>staying</em>. Everyone came here just to see you, so it would be rude to just run away”, he huffed.</p><p> </p><p>Theo groaned. Literally all of his instincts were screaming at him to run as far away as possible right now, but on the other hand he really needed to find out what the pack wasn't telling. So this time he might make an exception after all.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok”, he finally said. “Your puppy eyes won this time, Little Wolf”, he chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>More snickering could be heard. Once again Theo couldn't see anyone.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh jeez, Mason, tell your boyfriend he doesn't need to hide, I won't bite him or anything”</p><p> </p><p>Stiles actually smirked at that, while Corey reappeared. “Aww, Theo, what has happened to you? Gone all soft living with Liam here, aren't we? Even fallen under the power of the Puppy Eyes now?”, he mocked slyly.</p><p> </p><p>Theo inwardly groaned once again at that. “Can I kill him please?”, he deadpanned, looking at Scott.</p><p> </p><p>Scott barely succeeded to hide his own smirk. “Nope”, he answered.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh I'm really not worth to kill anyway. But I think you'll kill LIAM once you find out what he did to you last week”</p><p> </p><p>Liam looked up at Stiles, horrified. The boy just threw him a smug sly look. Oh-oh. NOT good!</p><p> </p><p>Theo slowly turned to Liam, whose face was kind of red now. What the hell??</p><p> </p><p>“What DID you do?”, he frowned.</p><p> </p><p>After Liam opened his mouth once or twice without an actual sound coming out of it, Malia finally had mercy on him. MALIA, of all people.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Liam just wanted to tell you you and him were fu-”</p><p> </p><p>“Fighting!”, Mason suddenly threw in. “You and him were fighting. Like … big time. Throwing dishes across the room, breaking noses and all that, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo blinked, not really understanding the big deal here. “So? We fight all the time”</p><p> </p><p>“Err … It'd been pretty …. <em>intense</em> … this time”, Mason panted, panicking. Theo threw him a WHAT-THE-HELL-look at that. Beside the human Corey, on the other hand, looked like he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, guys, I don't know what your deal here is, but this one seems to be something between me and Liam, so we'll clear that up in privacy, I guess”, Theo threw Liam a glance for approval. “And now, I'd REALLY appreciate to sit down, my legs are killing me”</p><p> </p><p>Stiles snorted. “I thought you were a chimera”. Theo ignored him this time.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>So this is how the pack AND Theo found themselves playing Truth Or Dare, AGAIN. And despite the seemingly light atmosphere Theo couldn't help but feel observed like a lab rat by various members of the pack.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, it's your turn now”, Hayden (and yeah, did I mention she was there already?? Lol) smirked. Theo didn't like that smirk. “Truth”, he opted for what he thought was the safer answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine”, Hayden answered, undisturbed. “Who was it the last time you kissed someone?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo glared at her, annoyed. Was she for real now?? This was way too personal and THE reason why he didn't take part in such stupid games. But if he really wanted to find out what the hell was going on here, he needed to play along.</p><p> </p><p>“Um … It was Tracy”, he sighed, looking down in shame. The very shame he was feeling right now indeed.</p><p> </p><p>The room went silent.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh”, Hayden let out a breath. “I … I didn't know that”</p><p> </p><p>Theo shrugged. “I didn't tell anyone”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, are you ok?”, Liam asked suddenly, those big blue eyes mustering the chimera carefully.</p><p> </p><p>Theo nodded slightly. “Y-yeah”, he stuttered, hating how weak he felt. He was desperately trying to mask his emotions, but it didn't seem to work. He frowned. What was it with his supernatural abilities lately??? Maybe he was still weak from whatever the Nine Herbs did to him? Theo made a mental note to talk about it with Deaton later. Or with Melissa, if she'll let him.</p><p> </p><p>“Liam”, Scott slowly dragged out in a weak attempt to light up the atmosphere a little. “Theo?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo cleared his throat awkwardly, finally waking up from his trance. “Yeah, got it. Liam, Truth Or Dare?”</p><p> </p><p>Liam chose a dare. How a Liam thing to do. Theo smirked, his own mood finally getting better now. He was plotting something wicked. “Fine then. I dare you … to get onto that table over there and sing us a song”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”, the beta shrieked, while the others were already laughing. Theo looked around the room smugly. He could already see Liam's embarrassment for which the chimera would harass him until the end of his living days.</p><p> </p><p>But neither the beta's protests nor the damn Puppy Eyes could convince Theo otherwise this time. That it how the poor blond boy found himself standing on the table for all eyes to see, while singing a love song about a broken heart in a really awkward voice.</p><p> </p><p>“C'mon, Liam, you look like someone just died. Sing it like you mean it!”, Stiles shouted, grinning. Liam groaned.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So much it hurts</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But you don't really see it</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And I can't find no words</em>
</p><p>
  <em>To tell you that I love you …</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Theo was standing there, ignoring the mocking cheering from the others. Because the only thing he could think of was how true those words suited him. Because at this very moment he was picturing himself standing there singing instead of Liam. And addressing those words to no one but Liam. But the chimera perfectly knew that he'd never be able to do that. Liam couldn't know Theo was in love with him. Sorry, Tara. He just knew he didn't deserve Liam. And Liam himself was above someone like Theo. Like Theo the ex-murderer.</p><p> </p><p>Apparently finally getting into it, Liam also began to dance now, which consisted of just swaying slightly back and forth – the only much you can do while standing on a fragile glass table in the living room after all.</p><p> </p><p>The emphasis lays on FRAGILE. Because the one moment the beta was still cheerfully dancing, and the next, the glass legs of the table were breaking down, with Liam falling onto the carpet and hitting his head.</p><p> </p><p>“LIAM!”, Theo all but ran to the beta immediately. Gosh, how stupid could he only have been by suggesting such a stupid dangerous dare??? “Gosh, are you ok??”, he picked him up slowly, his eyes scanning his body and head for any wounds.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it's ok. It burns a little but I'll be fine”, the beta huffed, more embarrassed about the ridiculous accident than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>“No, you're not”, Theo frowned, looking down at their linked hands. “You're clearly in pain, I can feel it”. And sure enough, once Liam looked down at their hands as well, he found himself gasping. Along with the others who were witnessing the scene. Because right now Theo was actually drawing pain, thick black veins sipping through his skin.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo”, Liam said, suddenly sounding breathless. The chimera looked up at him. Gosh, they were standing so CLOSE now …</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly a throat was being cleared, followed by LOUD shout.</p><p> </p><p>“I can't do this!”, Stiles exploded. “I'm sorry, Scotty, but I just CAN'T stand there and pretend like nothing has happened at all!! Like Theo didn't murder ANOTHER two teenagers while he was a soulless heartless douchebag! I can clearly see now that he cares again, but he DESERVES to know the truth, whether it's for his own good or not. And I want to see his face while I tell it to him!”</p><p> </p><p>Theo gasped. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why was Stiles bringing up his past crimes now? And … wait … ANOTHER teenagers? <em>What the hell??</em></p><p> </p><p>“What the hell are you talking a-”</p><p> </p><p>But he wasn't able to finish his question. Because suddenly there were images of Liam in front of his eyes. That was Liam in his memories. Some memories he hadn't ever seen before. Liam, sitting there on his knees, begging Theo to take his pain away, to make it better … Theo also felt the utter bewilderment, telling the beta he didn't know how to do it, that he'd never done it before. Him laughing and getting up. Cruelly, heartlessly. He gasped, the next image already planting itself into his mind.</p><p> </p><p>Him, facing a teenager's back. A teenager who was about to attack the pack. He couldn't see anything else, he just felt like he had to kill him. Following his instincts. Snapping the teenager's neck like it was nothing. Seeing the shocked stares of the pack but feeling SMUG about it. Like he didn't own them anything, but still wanted to look like a hero.</p><p> </p><p>Then, suddenly, it was Liam again. Liam, who was shooting daggers at him. Liam, who was really angry, so angry it HURT. <em>Wait, why did it literally hurt??</em> The lower part of his body suddenly felt like it was on FIRE. Theo heard himself screaming, but saw nothing but pure satisfaction in Liam's eyes. Liam telling him he was a slut. A whore, or something. And him secretly liking the attention he was finally getting, but never expecting it to be that rough …</p><p> </p><p>Oh God! OH MY FREAKING GOD!</p><p> </p><p>Theo threw himself on the ground, making as much room between Liam and himself as possible.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Nonononono!”</em>, he panted. That couldn't be happening now! What the hell did the witch DO to him?? What the hell did HE do??<em> And what on earth were Liam and him DOING there??!</em></p><p> </p><p>He felt so vulnerable. Worthless. <em>Betrayed</em>. This is when the anger came.</p><p> </p><p>“Why didn't you TELL me??!”, he shouted, sending Liam a death glare. “How could you … I would have been able to stomach the truth, you know?? I'm learning from my mistakes and I would have understood … You were NOT gonna tell me the truth, were you??”, he glared at the whole pack now. “You were about to play with me, AGAIN. Testing me, trying to trick me into telling you something I couldn't even remember! Gosh”, he laughed humorously. “I can't believe I'd say it someday, but<em> is Stiles here the ONLY rational thinking person???</em> You all really treated me like shit back when I first came from Hell, but I thought you've NOTICED me changing! And now you treat me like shit AGAIN. And I KNOW I deserve it, but<em> how the hell am I EVER supposed to get better if you continue to treat me like that?</em> How am I supposed to be able to help you, to be an ally or whatever the hell I am to you!! And Liam, you RAPED me! And I don't know who initiated it but I can't even face you right now because<em> I'VE BEEN IN FUCKING LOVE WITH YOU ALL THIS TIME!!!”</em></p><p> </p><p>With that, Theo stormed out of the house, leaving back an utterly speechless pack...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The Last Goodbye</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo's pov entirely. Picturing his thoughts. A shorter chapter this time.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! What can I say? This chapter was creepy and really sad to write, I'm literally crying :(( Please bear with Theo here a little, it's gonna become better soon ... I think.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The longer he drove, the blurrier the world before him became. On top of that it was already dark, so despite of car lights he couldn't really recognize anything anymore. Not with his human eyes anyway. But Theo didn't pay any attention to the unwanted tears that kept flowing down his cheeks. He knew everything went to hell the moment he'd lost control in front of the whole pack. How weak, how embarrassing, how PATHETIC. Yeah, that was what he was now. He didn't intend to spill everything out in front of everyone, especially in front of Liam. They surely would have laughed. Or – even worse – they would have banished him from Beacon Hills because he had allowed himself to fall in love with the beta. Because he clearly had no right to. And it was ok. But at least he would save his pride and leave Beacon Hills on his own before being told to.</p><p> </p><p>So Theo kept ignoring the tears, his look stubbornly focused on the road before him. He could already see the sign directing out of the town.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, don't leave ...”</p><p> </p><p>The chimera all but jumped at the sudden voice, shortly losing control of his truck. The machine swirled dangerously across the road, abruptly coming to a stop in the middle of it.</p><p> </p><p>Theo instinctively turned to look at the back seat. He couldn't see anyone there. He could have sworn the voice had sounded so nearby though. As though someone was in the car with him indeed.</p><p> </p><p>He quickly checked out the surroundings outside of the car. Still nothing.</p><p> </p><p>But when he checked the front mirror, his breath got stuck in his throat.</p><p> </p><p>There was <em>Tara</em>. Staring right back at him.</p><p> </p><p>Theo gasped, dread dripping like droplets of cold water down his spine. Was he dreaming again? Was Tara going after him to rip out his heart?</p><p> </p><p>The chimera briefly closed his eyes, opening them again then to look into the mirror. He was relieved to see the ghostly image of his sister gone.</p><p> </p><p>But it made him think. Pursing his lips, he started the engine again and turned back into the direction of Beacon Hills.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>When he came to the bridge, it was already black night. Safe for the stars shining on the icy winter sky. Theo shivered, glancing down into the water and observing the reflection of the moon. It looked beautiful, but the longer the chimera kept staring into the water, the tighter his chest was becoming. He'd never really experienced this feeling. The feeling of grief. The feeling of longing. The feeling of <em>missing </em>something. Or someone.</p><p> </p><p>So once he was feeling all of this he knew all this pain was deserved. He intended of sleeping here tonight, right on this bridge. This way he had a bit of time to say proper goodbye to his sister. And in the morning he would leave Beacon Hills. Forever.</p><p> </p><p>But it was SO fucking cold tonight! It was so cold Theo knew he wouldn't survive this night in his human form. He had to improvise.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera sighed and started to pull off his clothes, neatly putting them beside his feet. Then he shifted. He knew the thick fur would keep him warm. Just for tonight. Then he would go.</p><p> </p><p>So he let out a last small sob, that resembled rather a wolfish whine, and rolled into a small ball facing the water. <em>This time I'll stay by your side, sister</em>, he thought. <em>I'm not leaving you again</em>.</p><p> </p><p>He knew that it was risky staying here to sleep like this. He could freeze to death. But maybe it was supposed to be this way. Maybe he was supposed being taken back by his sister. Anyway, Theo was ok with that now. Tara was his only family after all. If not her, then who? Theo had no one else left...</p><p> </p><p>Lying there, Theo kept replaying the image of Tara he'd spotted back in the car. Had he been hallucinating? Had she really been talking to him? She might have had a reason to call him back. After all, he was about to leave, and she – or what was left of her – was still here.</p><p> </p><p>He suddenly wanted to be near her even more. Ever since waking up that morning, he noticed he was missing her like crazy. He didn't know why exactly. Was it because of this strange near-death experience? Theo could still recall that conversation with Tara. And it made his chest warm every time he thought about it. But he still wasn't sure he hadn't just been hallucinating.</p><p> </p><p>Theo stood up and hopped off the bridge, coming to stand near the water instead. The closer he got to Tara the better. So he decided to spend the night on the shore instead.</p><p> </p><p>The chimera stretched out his front paws and laid his head on it, nuzzling into the little warmth they provided with his muzzle. He kept wondering just how cold the water was today. This was winter after all. He didn't exactly know the date of the day when Tara had drown. But he knew it was in winter.</p><p> </p><p>So Theo didn't really pay any thought on what he was doing next. He stretched out his right paw towards the water and tested it. The water was FREEZING. Well, he hadn't expected it otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>But it didn't keep him from dipping into the water his other paw as well. Soon, his entire body was in the water. And now he was so cold it felt like he was burning with agony.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo smiled. Because it was ok. Because today he FINALLY was getting to experience just how Tara had been feeling during her last minutes of life. Back then, he had been just standing on the bridge, feeling nothing. <em>Nothing at all</em>. Right now, he felt like he was dying. And it felt good. Deserved. Justified. The chimera smiled.</p><p> </p><p>Then he started drowning.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know this chapter is sad. But leave some likes, guys? It keeps me really going :) Thanx!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Drowning ...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So Theo is drowning. Is someone gonna save him?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ooh a bitter-sweet chapter here. I think you'll like it :) Please let me know what you think, you know how much I love kudos and comments, who doesn't ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Scott's POV</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Meanwhile at the Dunbar home …</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The tension in the room was immense. Nobody dared to move, the sound of the door Theo had violently slammed before leaving still ringing in their ears.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Scott let out a raspy breath. He gave his pack a glance over and found out they were just as shocked by the chimera's outburst as he was. He breathed in, smelling pure confusion, fear and even mild satisfaction (the last one undoubtedly coming from Stiles). But nobody felt shame. Literally no one. Scott began to get angry now.</p><p> </p><p>“So, is this how we gonna leave it? Just let him storm out of here without going after him? We need to talk to him about everything. Theo's clearly not ok”, the Alpha said.</p><p> </p><p>Stiles let out a derisive huff. Somewhere in the corner Liam growled.</p><p> </p><p>“Scott is right. We messed it up. I'm gonna go talk to him. Whether he likes it or not”, the beta declared, pressing his lips into a thin line in determination.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait”, Stiles protested suddenly. “Are we SERIOUSLY considering talking to him? Sparing him? After everything he's done?? Why is he the GOOD guy here suddenly?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because he IS. You have NO idea!”, Liam hissed, already making his way to the entrance door.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoa, wait a minute”, Scott stopped him. “Do you even know where to go? You can't go look for Theo alone, it's almost deep night now”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, he's probably on the bridge again. It's the place where he's usually going when we fight”</p><p> </p><p>“Why do you even care??”, Malia spat, narrowing his eyes at the beta. Scott shushed her. She really didn't get it sometimes.</p><p> </p><p>Liam pressed his lips together again. “Because he's my anchor”, he finally said, looking Malia straight in the eye, while ignoring several gasps coming from the pack. “I've figured it out when Theo wasn't himself. I've found myself missing him like hell and losing control. It was as if he was there but not really. I was in a dark place back then”, he finished quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Scott mustered his beta. Right now he was feeling nothing but pride. He was proud of Liam for standing up for his friend and admitting screwing things up. He also felt proud about him not caring about what the others might be thinking of his relationship with Theo.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm going with you”, he said, not letting any room for discussion.</p><p> </p><p>Liam threw him a surprised look. “Ok”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait … WAIT”, Stiles protested again. Scott groaned inwardly. He loved Stiles, but why couldn't he just let it GO for once?</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you all so trustful suddenly?? Theo could just make everything up and pretend he was sorry, or angry or whatever. It wouldn't be the first time, you know?”, the human proceeded.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn right!”, Malia enthusiastically agreed.</p><p> </p><p>“Stiles”, Scott sighed. “He remembers Hell, ok? And I know you don't have supernatural senses, so let me tell you that during this last outburst of his Theos emotions were all over the place. He didn't even try to cover them up. And all they told me was that he REALLY was mad and ashamed, and just wanted to get out of here”, he finished softly, trying to talk some sense into his best friend. Stiles just huffed stubbornly.</p><p> </p><p>“I'm gonna go with Liam too”, Hayden suddenly announced. “I'm still no fan of Theo, so I'm just doing it for Liam's safety in case you're asking. But I'll go.”</p><p> </p><p>Liam nodded, throwing his ex-girlfriend a thankful glance. Scott smiled at both of them, turning to his pack then. “Some of you have to stay here”, he said. “Just in case Theo's coming back without us.”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>They took Mason's car. And while the majority of his pack didn't seem to be really cooperative concerning Theo, Scott was still thankful for this small favor. He still didn't like Theo either, but he could see the change – once again. This was the Theo without the curse. The Theo with his memories back. So Scott knew that despite the past grudges this Theo deserved to be given a second – or third, to be exact – chance.</p><p> </p><p>While driving the car, he glanced over at Liam, who was nervously playing with the hem of his shirt.</p><p> </p><p>“Liam, when we see him, I need you to stay in the car”, the Alpha told him.</p><p> </p><p>Liam's face turned into one of confusion. “Why?”, he asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Because I don't want Theo to freak out when he sees you. He's clearly upset with you, but also … I don't know … maybe embarrassed? It's not like Theo to declare his love in front of the pack, you know?”</p><p> </p><p>The realization finally seemed to dawn on Liam. “Oh ...”, he mumbled, his own face burning in embarrassment now. “I bet it wouldn't go good. I just hope he didn't leave Beacon Hills already. With him, you'll never know”, he suddenly panicked.</p><p> </p><p>“Liam, he won't leave”, Hayden said softly, taking his hand into her own to provide some comfort. “I've seen the way he looks at you. I should have known he was in love with you. Already when he first came back from Hell.”</p><p> </p><p>“He … Oh God, just how blind have I been??”, Liam groaned, covering his burning face in his shoulder. “Up to the time he was cursed I didn't even know he was bi. I've always thought this weird tension we had was just a thing between us. Because Theo is just … Theo, I guess”, he chuckled breathlessly.</p><p> </p><p>Hayden smirked. “Well, it seems like this tension has been just kind of a foreplay? Because really, you guys are driving me mad sometimes”, she rolled her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys”, Scott suddenly stopped the engine. They already were there. “Do you hear that?”</p><p> </p><p>They all stopped talking and listened. All they could hear was the sound of rushing water. Well, they were near the river after all. The same river Theo's sister had died in. But the sound of the rushing water was an uncommon one. I mean, it was the middle of the winter, not spring or anything. And this whole thing sounded more like … splashing?</p><p> </p><p>Scott walked out of the car, the others mimicking him. He drew in a deep breath and coughed, the sudden smell of fear and desperation assaulting his senses.</p><p> </p><p>“It's him”, Liam barked out, already making his way to the river. Scott and Hayden simply followed.</p><p> </p><p>The closer they got to the river, the stronger the smell of fear got. It was slowly turning to sheer panic, causing Scott and the others to run faster. Then, the sound of splashing water abruptly stopped. And all he could think about was that they were late.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo!!”, Liam shrieked, finally reaching the water. Scott looked over in confusion. He clearly hadn't expected to be faced with a large black dog – or was it a WOLF? – floating lifelessly on the surface of the water. Wait, why did it smell so much of Theo indeed?</p><p> </p><p>“Is this really Theo?”, the Alpha asked carefully. Liam seemed to be so sure of it. Not even confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes”, the beta said, but his voice betrayed he was panicking even more than Scott himself. “Theo can do a full shift. He just doesn't want people to know that”</p><p> </p><p>Scott nodded, finally breaking out of his trance. “Ok, he stopped struggling only half a minute ago, we need to get him out of the water, now!”</p><p> </p><p>Together, Liam and Scott managed to lift Theo out of the water and laid him onto the cold grass. Just at that moment Theo chose to shift back, subconsciously. Only seconds later they were faced with his very naked body. Scott averted his eyes respectfully.</p><p> </p><p>Upon seeing the wolf's lifeless open eyes, Liam began to sob, his panic reaching new levels now.</p><p> </p><p>“NononoNO! Not again!”, he pleaded, not knowing whether he should touch the chimera or not. Scott placed a calming palm onto the boy's shoulder. It was his duty as a leader of the pack to be there for his pack members, even if he himself felt his control slowly leaving him now. “It's ok, Liam, we got him. Someone just needs to do CPR”</p><p> </p><p>Liam nodded, his whole body shaking. “I'll do it”, he said.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>Theo's POV</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Theo couldn't breathe. Every breath he took backfired at him in a blast of agony. His airways were rapidly filling up with water and all he could do was open his mouth and close it again like a mute and helpless fish dying on the beach. And dying he was! He tried to scream for help, but nothing came out. The pressure in his chest and head grew. And soon he was seeing just black spots dancing in front of his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Then, under the water, he suddenly saw Liam's face. The beta's mouth was widened into a broad and creepy smile. His eyes yellow and his canine teeth threatening to come out.</p><p> </p><p>“You'll never get what you want, Theo”, Liam smirked cruelly, observing the chimera's reaction like it was the most entertaining thing in the world. “You'll never be a part of the pack. You'll never be loved”</p><p> </p><p>With those words in his ears, Theo woke up screaming.</p><p> </p><p>“Heyheyhey!”, someone hushed him immediately. “Easy there, it's just a bad dream”</p><p> </p><p>Theo's panicked eyes scanned the room, painfully trying to adjust to the bright daylight shining through the window. Then, his eyes landed on the person in front of him. He realized it was Hayden. Wait, what was <em>she</em> doing here?</p><p> </p><p>“What … Wh-what happened?”, he asked breathlessly.</p><p> </p><p>Hayden observed him carefully with her big brown eyes. Theo didn't like that look. It made him feel weak and pathetic. “You've nearly drown. We've found you in the river. Liam had to reanimate you.”</p><p> </p><p>For a moment Theo just continued to look at her in confusion, before remembering the latest events. He groaned in shame and frustration. <em>Just what had he been thinking???</em></p><p> </p><p>But he began to panic even more once spotting an IV needle sticking out of his arm, the line leading to an IV stand near Hayden.</p><p> </p><p>“What … Wh-What is THIS? I .. Put it the hell OUT of me!”, he hissed, already trying to rip it out of his arm. But Hayden stopped his weak struggles. Theo actually had the feeling she was a lot stronger than him right now.</p><p> </p><p>“No”, she deadpanned. “You're keeping it in. Melissa arranged it to reduce your fever. You probably don't remember it, but you've been quite a mess for a while.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo snorted. She's got to be kidding him, right??</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell are you talking about?? I'm a freaking chimera, I'll heal”</p><p> </p><p>Hayden hesitated at that. “I really think you should talk to Scott. Don't move, I'll be right back”. With that, she gracefully waltzed out of the room. Before Theo could register anything else, she was right back, with Scott following behind her this time.</p><p> </p><p>The Alpha looked … uncomfortable, to say at least. He gave Theo a forced tight-lipped smile that really resembled the one of Deatons.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey buddy”, he cleared his throat awkwardly. “How are you feeling?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo looked at him with wide eyes. It wasn't like Scott to address him this casually, and it CERTAINTLY wasn't like him asking about his well-being. They weren't even friends.</p><p> </p><p>“I … I don't know. Everything hurts and it feels like I'm about to burn to ashes”, Theo finally answered dutifully, deciding to play along.</p><p> </p><p>Scott nodded knowingly. “Yeah, that's because you're running fever. Like … big time”</p><p> </p><p>Upon hearing Theo swallowing nervously he added: “You're probably asking why you're sick ...”</p><p> </p><p>Theo nodded, chuckling without any humor behind it. “Yeah, you could say that. I haven't had a fever since I was eight”</p><p> </p><p>Scott gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well, I think from now on you're gonna experience quite a few things again”, he said cryptically. Theo huffed impatiently, waiting for Scott to already spill what was going on. Honestly, this guy really needed to stop hanging around Deaton so often.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell is it supposed to mean?”, he asked, urging the Alpha to continue.</p><p> </p><p>Scott sighed, averting his eyes. “Theo … While you were sleeping we've run some tests. And from what we've seen, it really looks like you're human again. You're not a chimera anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <em>You're not a chimera anymore.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>And once again, Theo found he couldn't breathe. He suddenly felt numb all over, and the only sound he was hearing was the one of him frantically panting. The panic he was feeling right now resembled the one he'd been feeling while drowning.</p><p> </p><p>“Theo! THEO! You need to calm down!”. It was Scott's voice that occasionally rang in his ears too now. What was going on? Why was he shouting??</p><p> </p><p>“Theo, please! We'll figure it all out, everything's gonna be fine!”</p><p> </p><p>Someone packed him on the shoulder and pressed him down onto the bed again.</p><p> </p><p>“I think he's having a panic attack. Theo, can you hear me? Breathe with me! In. And out. Again! In. And out. That's it”</p><p> </p><p>The chimera desperately tried to follow the constructions. Even if the world was a blur right now, deep down he somehow knew he could trust that voice. He knew they were here to help. So he followed the instructions.</p><p> </p><p>After a while, the world before him cleared up. Theo found himself in Scott's guestroom again.</p><p> </p><p>He swallowed thickly, only to fall into a coughing fit.</p><p> </p><p>When he stopped, he gratefully looked at the Alpha, still not really understanding why the other one was being so nice to him.</p><p> </p><p>“H-how did you do this?”, he croaked out. “I mean, how did you know how to stop this?”</p><p> </p><p>Scott mustered him closely, then smiled slightly. “I have Stiles as my best friend, remember? I know how to handle panic attacks, trust me”</p><p> </p><p>Theo nodded, rolling his eyes amused. “Yeah, right”</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Scott gently touched his shoulder with a silent question in his eyes. “You good now?”, he asked quietly. As if trying not to spook a wild animal. Theo sighed. He found himself still processing the news.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure? Are you really sure I'm human again?”, he asked just as quietly in return. “I mean, I don't get it. It shouldn't be possible, right? How is it possible??”</p><p> </p><p>Scott nodded in understanding. “We've called Marie. She was the witch who lifted your curse. She'd returned your memories of Hell, but said that the reversal of it would have consequences. Back then she'd told us it could be anything … Anything about you could reverse to its past state. So it looks like your status as a supernatural being was returned back to the human one. This was also why the Nine Herbs didn't work the way it should have while you were dying. It only works properly on the pure supernaturals. You must have already been in the process of reversing back to human by that time”</p><p> </p><p>Theo let out a shaky breath. It was a lot to take in. But now he finally began to understand. He also began to recall noticing just how weak his supernatural hearing and smell sense were getting. He also began to recall wondering why the trick with masking his true scent and feelings wasn't working anymore. Now, THIS last thought threw him into a panic fit again.</p><p> </p><p>“I .. B-but I … How am I supposed to be the same again? I mean … how the hell am I supposed to live like a human? I don't KNOW anymore!”</p><p> </p><p>Scott smiled again, almost knowingly. “Theo, it's ok. No one is going to judge you, I'll make sure of that. As for your question, I think you should do just what you always do – just be there for your friends … for Liam. THIS is the true you. Trust me, I've seen it.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo whined, his face coloring in embarrassment at the pure thought of the emotional levels of this talk. He didn't like talking about his feelings or life wisdom after all. It'd made him look sappy.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, mom”, he chuckled awkwardly, which only resulted in another coughing fit. “That doesn't really explain why I'm at YOUR house though ...”</p><p> </p><p>Scott snorted. “Well, we've found you, so … Would you like to be rather at Liam's house now? I figured out you'd still be angry with him, so ...”</p><p> </p><p>Now, Theo actually groaned out <em>aloud</em>. He covered his very burning face with his hands, suddenly recalling his very loud declaration of love to Liam, and that in front of the whole pack. Somewhere in the back of the room, he heard Hayden chuckling. He ignored the girl, looking at the Alpha pleadingly instead.</p><p> </p><p>“Please don't let Liam in here”, he whined, and hated how pathetically he sounded. “I'm grateful for him saving my life, but I REALLY can't face him right now. He was never supposed to know how I felt about him … Nobody was supposed to. I don't deserve him.”</p><p> </p><p>Scott sighed, his face taking on a sad expression. “You're not that bad, you know? I mean, I know we aren't even friends, but still … I came to learn that I could count on you. You've proved it during the time you've spent with Liam after being out of the Skinwalkers' prison. After experiencing the other you – the one without your Hell memories – I've noticed just how much you've changed after being faced with whatever the Skinwalkers have put you through. And this version of you is someone I can count on. And I really appreciate it”, he finished quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Theo sobbed, smiling slightly. “Thank you”</p><p> </p><p>Scott once again patted him on the shoulder. “I'll let Liam know you're awake. He won't come near you as long as you're not ready, I promise.”</p><p> </p><p>Theo nodded. “Just tell him I said thanks … And tell him I'm sorry”.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Fighting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo feels pathetic. But is soon faced with an opportunity to get better. Will he take it?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! Well, technically this story is still on hold, but I had an idea for a new chapter I just couldn't get out of my head. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo's critical condition lasted for nearly a week. All this time he'd been obligated to stay in bed in the McCalls' guestroom. A whole week of near immobility, accompanied by a whole lot of coughing, sneezing and feverish dreams. The only good thing was that the nightmares of the Tara from the Skinwalkers' prison seemed to have gone for good. Actually, he hadn't had them at all since the Curse had been lifted. That is how more and more Theo had started to believe in wonders. He started to actually believe of seeing and talking to his real sister while he had been dead indeed. So day by day, he adopted a routine of thanking her for chasing the bad dreams away after waking up every morning.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, he often dreamed of Liam. It wasn't the image of the beta raping him. Not at all. Despite the fact that this action had been awful enough Theo kept dreaming about Liam's large gorgeously blue eyes. Sometimes they were pleadingly staring at him, sometimes shining with slight amusement, and sometimes with something else … Theo could never place what. Throughout the week he had analyzed everything that had happened pretty well. He remembered almost everything he had done while being under the Curse. And that only added to his shame and the heavy stone in his chest he was feeling every time he looked into Scott's eyes. Which wasn't often. But at least he knew the Alpha had forgiven him (which he still couldn't believe).</p><p> </p><p>But what about Liam? What was Liam thinking about him? Was he thinking differently of him now that Theo had shown his old self once again? Was he thinking differently of him now that Theo had finally revealed how he truly felt about the beta?</p><p> </p><p>One thing Theo was sure of: he himself couldn't still forgive Liam. So he didn't even know what it meant for the two of them.</p><p> </p><p>But things weren't so bad after all. He still had Scott, Mrs. McCall and … well, surprisingly Hayden as well, who kept coming to look after him when the other two couldn't make it. He tried to ask her once why she was doing it for him, but she said she was doing it for Liam. So maybe Liam was keeping an eye at Theo after all. Through Hayden.</p><p> </p><p>But otherwise – especially during the daytime – he felt quite lonely. The loneliness and the awareness that he was a human again was driving him straight into a depression. With each passing day he was feeling more and more helpless and useless. And he knew that his weak state wouldn't pass away once he was healthy again. No, he was a human now after all. What was he supposed to do without his claws? What was he supposed to do without his enhanced senses and his supernatural strength? He was sure the pack didn't even need him in his new state anymore. He was nearly sure Scott would kick him out of his house and onto the street once Theo got better.</p><p> </p><p>No, he couldn't let that happen. Too many shit had already been done to him in his life. And he was a survivor after all. No, he would fight. But fight how?</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>The answer to his question had been provided on a Saturday, six day after they had dragged him out of the water.</p><p> </p><p>“Argent? What's wrong?”, came Scott's muffled question somewhere in the living room. “What? So I suppose it's good news then. You sure it was her?”</p><p> </p><p>After a few more moments the Alpha hang up. His tone had been urgent and Theo sensed that whatever Scott had been informed of had been important. Something was coming. He had to know what.</p><p> </p><p>“Scott?”, the chimera called, already making his way out of the bed with some difficulty. “What was that call about?”</p><p> </p><p>The Alpha looked at him in a slight hesitation, debating on what to tell him.</p><p> </p><p>“Please, if there's something coming I need to know!”, Theo pleaded. He meant it.</p><p> </p><p>Scott sighed, already shaking his head. “Argent called. He believes he stumbled upon a trace of Monroe. We're gonna find her. The pack and I. But you'll have to stay here, Theo. You're not quite healed yet”</p><p> </p><p>Theo's lips tightened into a thin line. He could literally feel the Alpha was withholding the unspoken truth. The unspoken truth of Theo being weak now. In general. Scott was just too much of a good heart to tell him that in the face.</p><p> </p><p>But Theo still refused to accept it.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, I might be a human now, but I still know how to fight. I'm a <em>good</em> fighter actually. Just give me the chance to prove it”, he stared Scott directly in the eye now, his whole posture in determination.</p><p> </p><p>The Alpha frowned. “Theo, I … I really don't know. During the last month you've barely escaped death not once but twice, and now you already want to put yourself into danger again? Liam wouldn't survive it if anything happened to you. When you've nearly died he was … It's hard to describe. I can't risk it again. And not only because of Liam, but because I care too, you know that, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo swallowed, studying his former friend's face. There was sheer honesty written all over it. But it still didn't change anything. Because if only Scott knew how much guilt the chimera had experienced during the last few days, he would understand why Theo had to participate.</p><p> </p><p>“You can't stop me, Scott. I'm an adult and I wanna help. What about Stiles? Or Mason? They are human but are still gonna help, right? Even if you'll refuse it, I'm still gonna find a way to help.” That was his final answer.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Scott's face softened, giving way to a slight admiration.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok”, he breathed out. “Ok. I really appreciate your willingness to help. Maybe you're right. We could use all the help we get. Just please do me a favor and don't die on me this time, ok?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo chuckled slightly at that, relieved. “I promise. I'm not that easy to kill … or stay dead for that matter”, he joked.</p><p> </p><p>Scott rolled his eyes in amusement. “Well, last time you've just been lucky Liam was there, because I'm not sure I could give you a mouth-to-mouth-reanimation like he did”, he made a slightly disgusted face. Theo snorted. Then the Alpha suddenly remembered something.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. We're going to have a pack meeting in twenty minutes to discuss our next steps. Liam is gonna be there. You sure it's a good idea to face him so soon?”</p><p> </p><p>Theo nodded, his eyes hard. “What has to be done has to be done, I guess. I can't hide from him any longer now anyway.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Preparing To Fight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Theo - being the stubborn chimera he is - attends the pack meeting after all. He's kinda nervous to do so.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ooooook guys, I guess I just can't get my hands off this story lol. Still writing on my college paper though, so the chapters will be probably getting shorter now.</p><p>But you know what? We've made it to 100 likes after all (which had been my purpose when I've started this whole thing) so my life is fulfilled now I guess lol. Still, I'm kindly encouraging you to be honest with yourselves and leave kudos if you actually like this story. It makes me smile every time! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>„Scotty!“, Stiles exhaled in relief, „There you are. Finally!“</p><p> </p><p>Scott could <span>literally feel the tension radiating off of his pack. And he couldn't blame them – the news about Monroe having excited but also terrified them as well. All of them could still clearly recall the War. Scott himself thought it felt like it only had been yesterday.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But as urgent as they had to get to the topic, Scott still lingered by the door, not really knowing how to approach the subject. He hadn't told anyone yet that Theo was coming as well. And he didn't even know how his pack currently felt about the chimera – besides of Hayden, who used to regularly visit him during his recovery. Because even if Hayden claimed to do it just because of Liam, the Alpha could see she still had a certain level of sympathy for Theo. Or maybe she still felt like she owned him for him bringing her back to life back in the days? He didn't know exactly what it was, but there definitely was something there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Scott? Why don't you close the door so we can begin?”, Deaton asked the Alpha politely, seeming slightly on edge as well.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scott swallowed. “Um … Guys, don't freak out, ok? But there's someone who's practically forced me into taking him to today's pack meeting. He just wants to help, I swear”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, the pack turned their astonished looks to non other than Theo Raeken, who entered the room in just that very second.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Upon seeing their dumbfounded stares, the chimera awkwardly shifted on one leg, then another. He looked quickly down on the floor then.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Um … hi”, he mumbled, clearing his throat to gain more stability. “I've heard about Monroe and want to help you as well”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Malia let out a derisive huff at that, while Stiles turned to glare at Scott with a big fat question written on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Alpha threw his best friend a pointed look instead, placing his palm flat on Theo's back and pushing him slightly further into the room and towards the pack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>It's ok, Theo”, he mumbled in an encouraging tone. “I'll take care of that”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That's when Liam suddenly exploded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>No, the HELL you will!”, he seethed, his eyes slightly flickering between blue and gold now. “Why did you BRING him?? He's HUMAN, he will get hurt!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scott pursed his lips, throwing Theo a “I've told you”-look. But Theo stubbornly shook his head, refusing to look at Liam, stoically looking at the opposite wall instead. He didn't say anything to his defense though. Scott could sense just how awkward the chimera was feeling right now. It made his heart clench in sympathy. He decided to help.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Liam, you wasn't there”, the Alpha said quietly but clearly. “You didn't see what I've seen, so when I tell you to just let him help us, please just trust me on that one. We'll be careful. We ALL should be”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a few moments there was just silence in the room. Then Mason cleared his throat awkwardly, turning to Theo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Um, so … How you've been, Theo?”, he asked conversationally, awkwardly trying to ease the tense atmosphere. “You look better, considering what you've gone through this week. How … how does it feel to be a human again?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo frowned, glaring at Mason defensively. “What is this, an interview?”, he huffed, shaking his head slightly. “I feel … just fricking fantastic!”, he deadpanned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His sarcasm caused the pack to exchange slightly surprised looks, causing Theo to feel a little bad about his rudeness now. But what could he do? He just felt nervous. And not only did all those looks make him nervous enough, but also Liam's sheer presence, even though Theo had thought he was prepared for that. Apparently not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now it was Stiles who snorted. “Still an arrogant jerk, I see”, he chuckled equally sarcastically. “I guess THAT is never going to change”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo sighed. He was already halfway to regretting about ever coming here tonight. “So what now?”, he asked, exasperated. “You want my help or not?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <span>They decided to send out some of the pack into the area Monroe apparently had been supposed to be seen in. If they were lucky enough, they would pick up even more clues and just head into the direction it was leading them into. It was decided to give the group (that consisted of Corey, Liam, Malia, Scott, Peter and Argent) a total of three days for the investigation. Meanwhile, all the others – that were Lydia, Mason, Hayden, Stiles and Theo – would be staying back in Beacon Hills to just keep an eye on things in case Monroe had suddenly decided to visit Beacon Hills after all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Oh, and there's something else”, Scott added, intriguing the pack. “Theo, I know you can take care of yourself, but I still think you'll need training”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo lifted an eyebrow, surprised. “Training? What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Alpha threw him a “Duh!”-look at that. “Theo, you are human now. And I know you probably hate to hear that, but you're just as humanly vulnerable now as Stiles or Mason. You want to help us? You want to fight? Ok. But first of all you have to learn how to do it PROPERLY. You can't just use your claws this time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As much as Theo didn't like it, he supposed Scott was right. That still didn't explain what the Alpha had in mind though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>“<span>Would should I do?”, he asked.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Scott gave him a look of approval. “While we're gone, I want you to do some combat and gun training with Stiles.”</span>
</p>
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